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\ wi^o.v^.

i^

^^d

HARVARD COLLEGE
LIBRARY

FltOM THB SEQUENT OF

JAMES WALKER

(a»i* of 1814)
Pnrideni <^ Barvard CcUegt

ST. PATRICK

APOSTLE OF IRELAND

A Memoir of his Life and Mission

WITH AN INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION ON

SOME EARLY USAGES OF THE CHURCH IN IRELAND, AND ITS

HISTORICAL POSITION FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF

THE ENGLISH COLONY TO THE PRESENT DAY

BY

JAMES HENTHORN TODD, D.D.

SENIOR riLLOW OF TRINITY COLUCGE,

RKGIVS PROFESSOR OF HEBREW IN THE UNIVERSITY, AND

TRSASURZR OF ST. PATRICK*S CATHEDRAL,

OUBUN

Ego Domtnus primus et novisstmus Ego sum. Vidcrunt insulac ct
nrauenint, extrema terrz obstupuenint, ct appropinquavcrunt, cC
acccsserunt Eiau xli. 4, 5

DUBLIN
HODGES, SMITH, & CO.

PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY
1864

yv hk^ha- Aua^koL^

LONDON

PRINTED BT SPOTTISWOODt AND CO.

N£W-ITftZXT SqUAlK

PREFACE.

The Author feels that some apology is required for
having occupied in this volume so large a space with
merely introductory matter. But Irish history is so
little known, that it became necessary to explain at
considerable length certain customs or usages of the
antient Church of Ireland, which by some writers have
been greatly misunderstood, and by others concealed or
kept out of view. It was important to make it clear
that those usages were not of the nature of heretical or
schismatical irregularities, nor all of them, strictly
speaking, peculiar to Ireland. Some of them were the
result of the insulated position of the country, combined
with the social condition of the people under the govern-
ment of their aboriginal chieftains ; some of them were
antient customs, which continued to exist in Ireland
long after they had been abolished elsewhere ; and some
had been abolished elsewhere for reasons which did not
apply to Ireland.

It was necessary, also, in order to correct certain
popular mistakes, to draw attention to the fact that
from the eleventh century to the Reformation there were
two Churches in Ireland, each ignoring, as far as it could,
the existence of the other ; and that since the Reforma-
tion a third Church has sprung up, deriving its succession

A 2

ll

IV

Preface.

from a foreign source ; whilst the original Irish Church,
properly so called, having merged into the Church of
the English pale, has adopted the Reformation, and lost
in a great measure its hold upon the descendants of the
native tribes. This loss is to be attributed to that old
and deep-seated disaffection to England which is the
parent of almost all the political and social evils of
the country ; nor can there be a doubt that this disaf-
fection was mainly caused, not by religious differences,
but by the impolitic measures enforced in the twelfth
and some following centuries, for compelling the Irish
people to adopt manners and laws for which they were
wholly unprepared ; not to speak of the arbitrary confis-
cation of landed property, for the benefit of the English
colonists, and the sudden overthrow of the authority
of the native chieftains.

The remainder of the volume is occupied with the
history of the plantation of Christianity in Ireland, as it
is recorded in the acts of its first missionaries, Palladius
and Patrick. But, notwithstanding the number of pages
employed in the narrative, several important questions
have been designedly passed over without notice.

It has not been thought necessary, for example, to
oci:upy any space with a refutation of the arguments
of those who have affected to cast doubts upon the exis-
tence of St. Patrick, Such doubts have proceeded for
the most part from writers strongly prejudiced by party
feeling, and wholly ignorant of the original sources of
the history. Their objections derive whatsoever plausi-
bility they may possess from garbled quotations, misinter-
preted authorities, and mistakes about antient customs,
especially Irish antient customs. They deal largely in

Preface. v

premises from which the conclusions deduced do not
follow, and in conclusions which are deduced from no
premises at all.

The traditions collected in the Book of Armagh
cannot be later than the third half-century after the date
usually assigned to the death of St. Patrick. They were
collected, for the most part, with a manifest purpose.
That purpose was to prop up the incipient claims of
Armagh to a jurisdiction over other Churches in Ireland;
claims which, it appears, were not then universally
allowed. They assume the existence of St. Patrick
as admitted by all parties, and never questioned.
Had the story of St. Patrick been then of but recent
origin, some remarks or legends in the collection would
certainly have betrayed the fact. That the collectors of
these traditions indulged in the unscrupulous use of
legend strengthens the argument. There were men
alive at the time whose grandfathers might have con-
versed with disciples of the Patrick who was said to
have converted the Irish in the latter half of the fifth
century. Had the existence of this Patrick been a thing
to be proved, or ever doubted, some of these men
would have been produced as witnesses, and made to
tell their experience ; but in the whole of this curious
record there is not a hint dropped capable of giving
support to the hypothesis that the history of Patrick
was then a recently invented fable. Had it been so, the
resistance to the claims of Armagh could not fail to have
brought out some allusion to the fact. It is incredible
that a whole nation could have combined thus to deceive
themselves ; and it is even more incredible that a purely
mythological personage should have left upon a whole

vi Preface.

nation so indelible an impression of imaginary ser-
vices ; an impression which continues to the present day
in their fireside lore, their local traditions, their warm-
hearted devotion and gratitude ; which has left also its
lasting memorial in the antient names of hills^and head-
lands, towns and villages, churches and monasteries,
throughout the country.

•* The story of St. Patrick's commission from Pope
Celestine is rejected in the following pages, simply be-
cause the writer believes that there is no satisfactory evi-
dence for it. He hopes that no reader will suppose him
to have been influenced by any controversial prejudice
in coming to this conclusion. He is conscious of no
such prejudice. He is, indeed, sincerely attached to
the Reformed Church of these kingdoms, in which he
holds the office of a priest ; but he cannot perceive how
the question whether Patrick had or had not his mission
from Rome aff^ects in any way the controversy which
now unhappily divides the western Church. The Rome
of the fifth centur)^ was not guilty of the abuses which
rendered the Reformation necessary in the sixteenth.
If we acknowledge, as we must do, the Roman mission
of Palladius, as well as the Roman mission of Augustine
of Canterbury, it is difficult to see what is to be gained
by denying the Roman mission of Patrick.
^ With the Roman story falls to the ground the fable
of St. Patrick's having been a canon regular of the
Church of St. John Lateran, at Rome. That is another
subject which has been passed over without discussion
in the following pages. There is no authority even in
the later and most legendary of the Lives for the state-
ment. There were no canons regular, in the fifth century.

Preface. vii

in the Church of St. John Lateran, of whose society-
Patrick could have been a member. The stories of his
having taken the monastic habit under St. Martin of
Tours, although countenanced by some of his biogra-
phers, and of his having been for a time an Augustinian
hermit, are equally without foundation. Such tales
belong to the eleventh or twelfth century, when the
Augustinian orders were first introduced into Ireland ;
and to a somewhat later period must be referred the
famous institution of St. Patrick's Purgatory. This
was a manifest invention of the English ecclesiastics
who had come over to settle in Ireland, and were anxious
to connect themselves, in the eyes of the people, with
traditions of St. Patrick. To the supposed adventure
of a knight, named Owain, or Owen, the purgatory first
owed its celebrity. Its first historian, Henry of Saltrei,
was an English Cistercian monk ; and the imposture was
supported for some centuries by the Anglo-Irish bishops
of the north of Ireland, and even by the English kings.
To the primitive Church of Ireland it was entirely
unknown. ^"^

It may be desirable to say a few words in this place
on the uncouth, and seemingly unpronounceable, proper
names of persons and places, which must embarrass
every reader of Irish history who is unskilled in the
Celtic languages. To change the spelling of such names,
with a view to represent to English eyes their pronun-
ciation, seemed a course which, besides being unscholar-
like, would be very little likely to effect its object.
The name, in its new form, would be more barbarous in
appearance, and perhaps quite as difficult of pronunciation
as it was in its original and correct orthography. Any

viii Preface.

change in that orthography, made with this view, would
destroy the etymology, and render it impossible for the
philological student to trace, with any certainty, the real
origin and meaning of the name. The reader of the
history of Ireland, who is ignorant of the Irish language,
must therefore make up his mind to encounter this
difficulty, as the reader of the history of France, or
Spain, Arabia, Russia, or Poland, has to encounter the
corresponding difficulty if he should happen to be igno-
rant of the languages of those countries.

To assist the reader in his contest with this difficulty^
the following rules are here given ; and, yiixh a little
attention, it is hoped the embarrassment may in this way
be most easily overcome : —

VOWELS.

A is always sounded as j in wall, or a in bat\ never as a in /ate,

E is always as e in grey, or e in set ; never as ee in meet,

I is always as ^^ in meet, or as / in pin ; never as / in ^gbt,

O is as 0 in more ; or, when short, as ^ in pot, or u in tuL

U is like u in rule, or oo in fool; and, when short, like u in fulL

DIPHTHONGS.

AI is pronounced as oi in soil\ and, when short, like ai in the French

travailler,
AO like aj in mayor ; by natives of Connaught, like uee in queen,
AU like u long, or oo,

EA like ea in bear, swear ; or, if short, like ea in heart.
EE, in old spelling, is the same as EA, and pronounced ?& eain bear,

or ai in nail,
EI, when long, like ei in reign ; when short, like e in serve,
EO long, like o in pole, or oa in coal\ if short, like u in cut,
EU is the same as EA, and often written for it.
I A always long, like ee in beer,

lO, when long, is the same as lA ; when short, like io in action,
lU, long, both vowels sounded, like ew in few ; short, like oo in good,
OI. Whether long or short, the two vowels are separately sounded ;

the 0 predominating when long, and accented thus, hi\ when short.

Preface. ix

and the / accented as ol, the / or ee sound predominates, and the

combination is sounded like uee in queen.
OOy in old spellings is pronounced like o in pole.
UA is always long, like toa in war.
UI is pronounced always so as to make each vowel distinctly heard ;

if accented ui, the u predominates, as oo-ee ; if accented ui, the sound

resembles toee in zoeep ; if short, or unaccented, the sound is the same,

but shortened as much as possible.

CONSONANTS.

B, as in English. BH as v or to.

C, always hard, as K ; never as r in ceiling. CH as the Greek x» or
German cb in reicb ; never as cb in cbeer.

D, as in English. DH nearly as j.

F, as in English. FH quiescent, or without sound.

G, as ^ in gale ; never as ^ in ginger. GH final had best be pronounced
like b, or gb in bigb. Its correct pronunciation can only be attained
by a native.

L, as in English.

M, as in English. MH like r ; in the middle of words, like to,

N, as in English* The combination NG can only be pronounced by a

native.
P, as in English. FH like F, or pb in Pbilip.
R, as in English.
S, before or after a, o, and u, like / in sun, or biss ; before or after / and

i, as sb in sbine, blusb. SH 2S b m bill.
T, before the broad vowels j, ^ iz, is to be pronounced like a slender

tbf as in tbougbt ; before the small vowels e, i, like / in tune. TH

is pronounced like the English b; at the end of words or syllables,

almost quiescent.

These rules are very general, and of course very
imperfect; but by an adherence to them, a tolerable
approximation to the correct pronunciation may be
obtained. Such readers as desire to study the subject
more deeply will find full information, with copious
examples, explaining especially the provincial and dia-
lectic pronunciations, in Dr. O'Donovan's ^Grammar
of the Irish Language : ' Dublin, 1 845.

In conclusion, the author has to acknowledge much

X Preface.

valuable assistance given to him by the Very Rev.
Charles Graves, Dean of the Castle Chapel, Dublin,
especially in decyphering the curious passage quoted
pp. 454, 455, of this volume, from the Book of Ar-
magh. A page there is nearly obliterated in the
original MS., but Dean Graves, with great labour and
skill, has succeeded in completely recovering it.

His best thanks are also due to his valued friend the
Rev. Dr. Reeves, of Armagh, who has most kindly read
and corrected all the sheets from page 265 to the end of
the volume ; detecting many errors, and supplying from
his great stores of information, with the liberality of a
true scholar, many particulars and valuable references
which the author had overlooked.

The proof sheets of the earlier part of the volume
wanted the advantage of this supervision. They were
corrected by the author at a distance from books of re-
ference, whilst he was resident on the Continent, for his
health, in the early part of the year 1862. They pro-
bably contain many errors which might otherwise have
been avoided, and for which the author hopes this
apology may be accepted.

Trinity Collegk, Dublin :
October 31, 1863.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

T»¥0 periods of Irish Church History — Irregularities attributed to the
Chiu-ch in the first period — Not peculiar to Ireland — Three Orders
of Irish Saints — Ecclesiastical tenure of Land, illustrated by the foun-
dation of Trim — Comarbs, or Coarbs — The Muinnter, or Monastic
family — Termon Lands — Monastic Officers — Antient Lists of the
Successors of St, Patrick — Christianity in Ireland before St. Patrick —
Second period — Clanship — Two hostile Churches in Ireland since the
Eleventh Century — Bull of Pope Adrian IV. — English rule in Ireland
— ^Hatred of England not caused by Religious differences — The Refor-
mation— ^The Penal Laws — The Legislative Union . pp. i — 246
Appendix to the Introduction .... 247 — 262
A. — Genealogical Tables : —

Table I. — Kings of Ireland descended from Eochaidh Muigh-

meadhoin 249

Table II.— The Northern Hy Neill . . . 250
Table III.— The Southern Hy Neill . . . 252
Table IV. — ^Relationship between St. Brigld and St. Co-

lumba 252

Table V. — Relationship between St. Brigid and her first

bishop, Conlaedh 253

Table VI. — List of the Kings of Ireland from a.d. 164 to

665 • 255

B. — History of the Foundation of Trim from the Book of
Armagh 257 — 262

CHAPTER I.

The antient Church of Britain, and the Mission of Palladius to the
Scots believing in Christ — Certain Portions of the Acts of Palladius
transferred to St. Patrick 265

xii Contents.

CHAPTER U.

The History and Acts of St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, and Founder
of the See of Armagh — His Writings — His early History, as
gathered from his Writings — Date of his Mission . . p. 346

CHAPTER m.

The Missionary Labours of St. Patrick — His interview with King
Laoghaire — His Irish Hymn — His adventures in Connaught —
Festival of his Baptism — Story of King Laoghaire's Daughters —
Foundation of Armagh — His supposed Revision of the Pagan
Laws — His Canons — Date of his Death — Review of his His-
tory— His Policy, in first addressing the Chieftains, founded on
a Knowledge of the Irish People — Cause of his Rapid Success — His
Toleration of the Pagan Superstitions — His Mission not without
Danger to Himself — Ecclesiastical Clanship in the Monasteries —
Causes of the Popularity of the Monastic Life in Ireland — The
jibgitoridy or Alphabets written by St. Patrick — Alphabetic Writing
and a Pagan Literature in Ireland before St. Patrick — The Chris-
tianity established by him a National Institution — His Missionary
Character . 400

Index . ' 5*7

ERRATA.

Page

45, 1. 16 f for ffKoXd^oyrts read <rxoKd(oVT(5.

47, I. 22 f for populus read populos.
130, 1. lo^ for Fiac read Fiacc.
145, 1, l^for Lib. i. read Lib. 1.
166, heading of page, yor Fertighus read Fcrtighis.
179, L a, col. 2yfor Arti read Artri.

214, note ^for Ui Eochadh read Ui Eochach.

215, 1. 6,y&r Bridgid read Brigid.
249, I. 4, after F.ochaidh deU comnoa.

3'3> ^* Sifi^ barbaros read barbaras.

448, note 2, 1, t^for Sanctilcgium rr^ J Sanctilogium.

ST. PATRICK
APOSTLE OF IRELAND.

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION

HE history of the Irish Episcopal Two periods
successions divides itself into two church
distinct and well defined periods. ^^°^'
The first period embraces the primi-
tive ages, from the earliest plantation of Chris-
tianity in the island to the establishment of
archiepiscopal and diocesan jurisdiction in the
beginning of the twelfth century. The second
period extends from the twelfth century to the
present day.

2. During the former period many seeming, irrcguiari-
and some real, irregularities existed in the Church butcdtothe
of Irelpnd, which, when they came to be known, i"wh"'
excited the wonder of the rest of Christendom. ^^"'''^*
Anselm^ Archbishop of Canterbury, in one of

* Aiuelm. Ojpp. cd. Bencd. Paris, p. 523). "Item dicitur, episcopos
1711. Epistt. lib. iii. 147. Usscr. m terra vestra passim eligi, et
Sjlkg, £pUt. 36 (Works, vol. iv. sine certo episcopatus loco ronstitui:

*B

Z Irregularities attributed to [

By St. his letters to Muirchcrtagh, or Murtach O'l

Aiuelin« , , .

nominal King of Ireland, in the beginning (
twelfth century, thus describes these ab
' It is also said that bishops in your co
are elected at random, and appointed wi
any fixed place of episcopal jurisdiction ;
that a bishop, like a priest, is ordained
single bishop/ He then goes on to r
that * a bishop cannot be constituted in ac
ance with the will of God, if he has nc
tain diocese or people to govern. For ev«
worldly affairs,* he says, * we would not
either the name or the office of a shephc
him who had no flock to feed.'
By St. And so also St. Bernard complains, in

guage, perhaps, too strong, that throughou
whole of Ireland, up to his own times,
had been * a dissolution of ecclesiastical
cipline, a relaxation of censure, a making
of religion ;' that ' instead of Christian piet
everywhere introduced a cruel barbarism, i
sort of paganism, substituted under the Chr
name. For,' he adds, * bishops were chc

atque ab uno episcopo episcopum spellingsof the Irish names,

sicut quemlibet presbyterum ordl- who are ignorant of the Cc

nari.' The Muirchertach to whom guages, is perhaps the gre:

this letter was addressed, was great- stacle to the popular know

grandson of the celebrated Brian Irish history, and a reason v

Borumha, and died in' 1 119; dur- cated Englishmen are contc

ing his reign, in consequence most main in entire ignorance of

probably of his correspondence with so intimately connected wii

Anselm, the synod of Rathbresail selves. The name Muircher

made the first attempt to introduce been Anglicized (if we may

Archiepiscopal jurisdiction, and to Morrogh^ Murtoghy Martin

fix the boundaries of episcopal sees Moriarty. It is derived fr(

or dioceses in Ireland. (Latin Mare) the sea ; an

We may remark here that the fics, * expert at sea ; * Mar

uncouth and seemingly barbarous Na*valis,

Bernard.

the antient Church of Ireland. 3

iltiplicd at the pleasure of the metropo-
thing unheard of since the beginning of
inity, without order, without reason, so
e bishopric was not content with a single
but almost every church had its separate

without aees
or diocttes.

[ow far this state of things was in its Bishops
endered necessary by the civil or political
stances of the country, may be difficult
e. But it is certain that in the early
of which we are speaking, bishops, with-
s or dioceses, were very numerous in Ire-
Except in Armagh, Trim, and one or two
laces, no lands or other endowments were
rt for their support. In some cases the
were compelled to demand fees^ for the

S. Bernard, DeVitaMa-
X. * Inde tota ilia per
Hibemiam, de qua supe-
is, disiiolutio ecclesiasticae

censurae enervatio, reli-
:uatio : inde ilia ubique
letudine Christiana, sseva
rta barbaries, imo paga-
dam inductus sub nomine
Nam (quod inauditum
Christianitatis initio) sine
e ratione, mutabantur et
jantur episcopi pro libitu
ini, ita ut unus episcopa-
lon esset contentus, sed
:ne ecclesiae singulos ha-
copos/ By the metropo-
is passage it is probable
rnard meant the successor
•ick at Armagh : his Ian-
lies that there were episco-
s (cpiscopanis), although
rts, whether limited by the
possessions of the monaste-
the chieftains, were *not
0 submit to the ordinary
a of a single bishop.

' Fees. Lanfranc, Archbishop of
Canterbury, in his letter to * Terdel-
vacus,' nominal king of Ireland,
mentions, as one of the abuses of the
Irish church, that the bishops took
money for conferring holy orders :
* Quod sacri ordines per pecunlam ab
episcopis dantur.' Ussher, Sylloge,
Epist. 27. The real name of the
king to whom this complaint was
addressed was Tordkealbach (grand-
son of Brian Borumha). He was
nominal king of Ireland from a.d.
1086 to 1094. His name, so un-
pronounceable to English tongues,
is now commonly written Torlogh
or Turlogh, and has been Latinized
TheodoricuSy although without any
other reason than the remote resem-
blance in sound. The name signi-
fies • Like a chieftain.* Dr. O'Brien
(Dictionary,/«a;of^) tells us that it
signifies, * Like the God Thor,' but
7hor was a Saxon, not a Celtic deity,
and was unknown to the Irish. The
word tor signifies a lord, a chieftain.
See Irish Nennius, p. 223, n.

B 2

4 A real Episcopacy in Ireland. [ikteoi

exercise of their function ; but ordinarily the^
were maintained by the offerings^ of the cleig
or congregations amongst whom they minister^
Those who were connected with the religious
houses shared no doubt with the rest of the
inmates the common property of the society;
and those who ministered in the establishment
of one of the petty kings or chieftains, wen
probably supported by their chief as one of bii
principal retainers or functionaries, and a part oi
his regal or patriarchal state.
A real 4- It would bc a very great mistake, howevet

m tib^^riJh to suppose that there was no real episcopacy o
S^gh episcopal jurisdiction in Ireland in the times W
without speak of, or that the distinction between th
orders of priest and bishop was not thorough!
understood and carefully preserved in the primitiv
Irish Church. Seeming irregularities no doub
there were ; bishops were sometimes ordained/^;
saltuntj without having previously passed througl
the inferior orders ; they were consecrated by ;
single bishop, instead of by three, as the antien
canons of the Church are supposed to have re

* Offerings, These offerings, in antiquus, ordinare ad episcopui

later times, were received at epis- pertinebunt, sive ad usum necessa

copal visitations : the collection of rium, sive egentibus distribuendun:

canons, entitled * Synodus Episccpo- prout ipse episcopus moderabit

raw, /./., Patriciif Auxilii et her- Villanueva, Opusc, S.Fatricii^ Dub

niniy published by Spclman, Ware, lin, 1835, p. 4. In St. Patrick'

and Wilkins, althougn it is evidently time there could have been no ' mc

of a date much later than that to antiquus ' in Ireland, as to the dis

which it pretends, may be quoted in tribution of offering^ made to th

proof of tnis remark. Can. 25 is as bishops under the name of 'ponti

follows: 'Si qux a religiosis homini- ficalia dona.* But these canons ar

bus donata futrint diebus illis, quibus undoubtedly Irish and antient

Pontifex in singulis habitavent £c- probably not later than the tenth o

clesiis, pontificauia dona, sicut mos eleventh century.

iKmoD.] although without Dioceses 5

cjuired ; and they were not set apart to labour
in any defined district or diocese, nor bound to
yield canonical obedience to any superior epis-
copal or archiepiscopal authority.

The Degree or Order of the episcopacy was
frequently conferred in recognition of the pre-
eminence in sanctity or learning of some distin-
guished ecclesiastic, who nevertheless continued
to live, either as a hermit, or as the head of a
school in his monastery, without necessarily
taking upon him the charge of any district,
church, or diocese. But the peculiar functions
of his order were never overlooked, nor did the
presbyters ever intrude upon the episcopal office ;
so that the attempt made by some modern
writers to represent the primitive government of
the Irish Church as a species of Presbyterianism
is entirely futile and unfounded. The bishops
were always applied to, to consecrate churches,
to ordain to the ecclesiastical degrees, or Holy
Orders, including the consecration of other
bishops ; to give Confirmation, and the more
solemn benedictions; and to administer the
Holy Communion with peculiar rites, of greater
pomp and ceremony.

5. It is true that the bishops attached to reli- Bishops
gious houses were subject to the superior of the ^b^t
nionastery, although that superior may have iJiui*^^^
been no more than a priest, or even a layman ; of'^L^""
but no abbat, in any such monasteries, although [^^^'ji^"^'^
exercising a certain jurisdiction over his bishop,
ever ventured to usurp any of the spiritual func-
tions of the episcopal office.

m
monasceries
to

6 Episcopacy recognised as [intrc

Example of 6. It appeafs to have been a rule, as indeed it
SS" "^ still more or less in every branch of the Cathol
authority. Church, that some peculiar rites were necessai
when a bishop took part as celebrant in the offi<
of the holy Eucharist. AdamnanS in his life <
St. Columba, tells a curious story which will illu
trate this, and will also shew in what honour tl
episcopal office was held in the antient Scot
monasteries. ' Once upon a time,' he says, *
certain stranger [or pilgrim^] from the province <
Munster, whose name was Cronan, came to tl
saint \i.e.y to St. Columba, at Hi, or lona] ; 1
endeavoured from humility, as much as possibl
to conceal himself, that none might know hi;
to be a bishop, but he could not escape the pen
tration of the saint. For on the next Lore
Day, having been invited by St. Columba
consecrate, according to custom, the Body
Christ, he calls the saint that they might tjre;
the bread of the Lord together, as if they h;
been both presbyters. The saint then a
proaching the altar, suddenly looked into 1
face, and thus addressed him : " May Christ bit
thee, brother ; break thou this bread alone, wi
episcopal rite ; we know now that thou art
bishop. Wherefore didst thou attempt to concc
thyself until now, so that due veneration was n

* Adamnan, Vit. S. Columbae, same chapter : and Dr. Reeves shi
lib. i. c. 44. (ed. Reeves, p. 85.) that Adamnan uses the word!
cf. Colgan. Actt. SS. p. 302. synonomous. Vit. S. Columbae, G

* Pi^rim. The word used is i<w>»P-45^- The Greek word /
proselvtus j but the same individual selytut properly signifies a stran;
is called a pilgrim, peregrinuj, in the ad'vena.

orxTLOD.] superior to the Priesthood. y

tendered unto thee by us ?" When he heard
tVis, the humble pilgrim, greatly astounded, wor-
shipped Christ in the saint ; and all present who
witnessed it, wondering greatly, gave glory to the
Lord/

We are not bound to receive the miraculous
part of this story, if indeed there be anything
miraculous really implied in it. It proves,
however, beyond all doubt, that the author
regarded the episcopal office as worthy of the
highest honour : and the case is the more re-
markable^, because of the high dignity and repu-
tation of Columba, although himself but a priest ;
and because Adamnan, who records it, was
himself, as the abbat of a Columban monastery,
officially excluded from the higher order. It is
clear that reverence for the episcopal office was
with the monks of Hi a principle, and super-
seded even the veneration paid to St. Columba
himself in his own monastic society.

7. Another very curious anecdote, told by the Example of
same author^, illustrates in a remarkable manner wbj^ti'on^to
the position of a bishop in an Irish or Scotic ^^^^^^^^
monastery, as subject to the jurisdiction of his
abbat.

An Irish ecclesiastic, named Findchan, a pres-
byter, and a soldier of Christ, ' Christi miles,'
(^.^., a monk,) became the founder of a monastery
at a place called Artcbaitiy in the Etbica Terra^

* RmarkabU, This observation ' Author, Adamnan. Fit. S, Co-

lias been made by Dr. Reeves. lumbce (ed. Reeves), i. 36.
Adamnan. Note p. 86.

8 Anecdote of the Ordination

or Tiree.* He brought over with him
' Scotia/ that is, from Ireland, in the habi
clerk, one Aedh Dubh, or the Black, \
apparently to convert him to a religious 1
keeping him for a few years under his o^
struction in his monastery. Aedh, or Hi;
the name is often Englished, seems to hav<
a most unfavourable subject for such an (
ment. He was of the royal family of the C
nians, or Picts, of Dalaradia in Ulster,
described by our author as a sanguinary mui
' valde sanguinarius homo, et multorum
dator.' In the year 565 he had murdered
mait'^, son of Fergus Cerbhaill, (or Carroll
was supreme king of all Ireland by Divine
' totius Scotiae regnatorem Deo auctore
natum/ After this unpromising charact
spent some time in * pilgrimage' at the r
tery of his friend, Findchan conceived sc
an opinion of him, that he sent for a bishc
caused him to be ordained priest.^ The
appears to have had some scruples, and ii

* Tiree, Dr. Reeves {Adamnan^ from 544 to 565. OTlah<
p. 48, note ; Ulster Journal of Arch- gia^ p. 430.

aeology, ii. p. 223, sq.) ; has clearly ' Priest. * Hie itaque

proved that the Ethica Terra of dus,postaliquantuminpcrC;

Adamnan was the island Tir-itha transactum tempus, accito

or Tiree. Father Innes imagined quamvis non recte, apud •

it to be Shetland, an hypothesis tum Findchanum, presb)

wholly irreconcilable with Adam- natus est. Episcopus tai

nan's notices of it. Civ, and EccL est ausus super caput eju

Hist, of Scotland^ p. 180. c. 36. imponere, nisi primoidem

* Diarmait. Diarmait was the son nus, Aidum carnaliter am
of Fergus Cerbhiall, who was the son capiti ejus pro confirmai
of Conall Crimthan, who was the poncret dcxteram.* Adai
son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Columbs (ed. Reeves, pp.
He was king of Ireland 21 years.

rrR^oB.] of Aedh Duhb. 9

that: Findchan should share the responsibility, by

f tst: putting his own hand on Aedh's head, which

accordingly he consented to do, from his singular

affection for Aedh : ^ Aidum carnaliter amans.'

And the blood-stained murderer, the * sanguina-

rius trucidator,' was ordained to the sacred office

of the priesthood.

When this transaction came to the ears of St.
Columba, he was very indignant. He predicted
that Findchan's hand, which was guilty of such
sacrilege, should miraculously rot, and fall from
his body ; and that Aedh^, returning like a dog
to his vomit, should again become a murderer,
and ultimately be murdered himself.

From this narrative it appears that Findchan,
notwithstanding his great anxiety to have his
unworthy pupil ordained, did not venture to
perform that office himself, being only a pres-
byter, but sent for a bishop y or summoned the
! bishop who was connected with his monastery,
' to perform the office. It is to be observed also
that the bishop, being subject to the abbat, and
bound to obedience, did not dare to refuse, not-
withstanding his scruples, and merely stipulated
that Findchan should take upon himself the
responsibility of the act, by first laying his own
hands on the head of the candidate; not as
ordaining, or adding anything to the validity of

* Aedh. He was the son of Suibh- himself slain, by the son of his pre-

w Araidhe, and was chief of Da- decessor. Sec Reeves, Adamn, pp.

i^Ia in 565, when he murdered 66, 70, notes. The Four Masters

^g Diarmait. In 581 he became, place his death in 592, and the mur-

*»y usurpation. King of Uladh der of King Dairmait in 558, but

{Widia, or Ulstei), and in 588 was their chronology is wrong.

lo The Irish Monastic Bishop [introd.

the priesthood conferred, but only * pro confirma-
tione,' to justify the bishop in the act. In the
form of this ordination there was nothing irre-
gular; but the story shews incidentally that it
was not at that time the ordinary custom in the
Irish Church for the assisting presbyters to join
in the imposition of hands, as enjoined by the
well-known canon of the fourth council of
Carthage. On this occasion there was no attempt
to observe that canon ; for Findchan was re-
quired to lay on hands Jirsty not to join in the
imposition of the hands of the bishop. And this
was done * pro confirmatione,' as evidence that
the bishop was acting not of his own free will,
but under the authority of his monastic superior.
And accordingly it is very remarkable that
Columba^ although he condemns in the severest
terms this sacrilegious ordination, denouncing
against Findchan a fearful punishment, never
censures the bishops evidently assuming that
the bishop had done all that was in his power to
signify his disapprobation, and to protest against
the act.
Theabhatiai 8. Thcsc auccdotcs both havc reference to
over buhops Columban monasteries ; and the latter illustrates
toCoi^mh^n very strikingly the statement of the venerable
monasuric g^ ^^2^ ^^i^it thc abbat of Hi was always a priest,

> Columba. Innes suggests that Scotland^ pp. 182, 183. But the

Columba pronounced no judgment bishop had done nothing worthy of

ag^nst the bishop, because 'the holy censure ; he had acted under the

man would not assume a power over commands of his abbat, to whom he

a bishop or pronounce sentence was bound to render obedience,

aeainst nim, out of respect to his * Bedt, Hist. Eccles. iii. c. 4.

character.' Ci'v. and EccL Hut, of * Habere autem solet ipsa insula rec-

INTROD.]

subject to the Ahhat.

II

to whose jurisdiction the whole province and
even the bishops themselves were subject, after
the example of the founder, Columba, who was
not a bishop, but a priest and monk.

This, however, was not peculiar to the monas-
teryof Hi,or its dependent religious houses. Some-
thing of the same kind will be found in St. Brigid's
celebrated establishment at Kildare. Cogitosus^,
one of the early biographers of St. Brigid, tells
us, in his Prologue, that when innumerable people
of both sexes flocked to her * from all the pro-
vinces of Ireland,' bringing their voluntary
offerings, she erected on the plain of Life, or
L#ifFey^, on the sure foundations of faith, her
monastery, ^ which is the head of nearly all the

Constitution
ofSt.Brigid*s
monastery
of Kildare.

torem semper abbatem presbytcrum,
cujus juri ct omnis provincia, et
ipsi etiam episcopi, ordine inusitato,
debeant esse subjecti, juxta exem-
plum primi doctoris illius, qui non
<piscopus, sed presbyter, cxtitit, et
nwnachus.'

* Cogitosuj. The rua S, BrigitLe
^y Cogitosus has been printed by
Canbius, Ltctt. Antiq.y torn. v. ; by
Messingham, FloriUg, Ins, Sanctor.-^
and by Colgan,TW^zj ThaumaturgOy
P- 518. It is also printed by Surius
Md the Bollandists at Feb. i. Mes-
singham supposes Cogitosus to have
wished A.D. 550, assuming him to
^ave said that he was St. Brigid's ne-
phew. But this mistake is corrected by
Colgan, who decides that the Life of
^/.^riji^ must have been written be-
fore the year 5 94,probably before 580.
His argument, however, for this date
Binconclusive,and will be noticed pre-
sently (see p. 15). The name of Co-
gitosus occurs as a saint (at Apr. i g)
in the Irish unpublished Martyro-
Icpes of Tamlacht or Tallaght, and
Marianus O'Gorman. But it is not

mentioned in the older martyrology
of Aengus, the Culdee, written be-
fore A.D. 800. It would seem there-
fore that Cogitosus must have become
known to Irish hagiography after
this year, and therefore could scarcely
have been so old as the sixth cen-
tury. The Martyroloey of Tal-
laght, as we now have it, was com-
posed about 900 (Colgan, Actt. SS,
p. 58i,c. I2),andMarianusO'Gor-
man died in the latter half of the 12th
century. The name of our. author,
in its Celtic form, was Cogitois, or
Cogitis, and it is not improbable that
he alludes to his own name when he
begins his Life of St. Brigid with the
words * Cogitis me fratres.' If this
conjecture be well founded it affords
a curious incidental evidence of the
authenticity of the work. There
cannot be a doubt that Dr. Petrie
is correct in making A.D. 800 — 835
the period within which Cogitosus
wrote. Round To^vers, p. 202.
(Trans. R. Irish Acad. vol. xx.)

' Liffey, This is now the name
of the river which flows through

I ^ Constitution of the Abbey [intr(

Irish churches, and the pinnacle towering abo^
all monasteries of the Scots, whose jurisdictio
[parocbiay) spread throughout the whole Hibe
nian land, reaches from sea to sea.' She thei
he adds, reflected that she ought to provic
' with prudent care, regularly in all things, f<
the souls of her people,' as well as for ' tl
churches of the many provinces that adhere
to her. She therefore came to the concli
sion * that she could not be without a high prie
to consecrate churches, and to settle the ecclesia
tical degrees in them.' The result was that si
pitched upon a holy man, a solitary, adorn(
with all virtues, and by whom God had wrong
many miracles. She sent for him from \
desert, and went herself to meet him. I
agreed to her proposals, and she engaged him *
govern the church with her in episcopal dignit
that nothing of sacerdotal order should
wanting in her churches.'

In this way, says our author, he 'was t
anointed head and chief of all bishops, and s
the most blessed chief of all virgins ;' so th
by their happy unanimity and government
all virtues, she erected her principal church ; ai
by their united merits ' her chair ^ both ej

this plain. But originally it was * Chair, * Cathedra episcop

the name of the plain, and the river et puellaris/ It must be born<

(in contradistinction to tlie plain) mind that St. Brigid's cstablishm

was called Ri*vef of the Liffey^ in at Kildare comprehended both se:

Irish Amhain na Lifiy which has who were divided from each ot

been Anglicized, Anna Liffey^ and in the Cathedral by a partition,

has greatly puzzled some English the remarkable description of i

writers : as if the word Anna was arrangement by Cogitosus, c. 3

a woman's name. Colgan, Triad. Th. p. 523, and

I

tL.ot}.] of St. B rigid at Kildare. 13

:o pal and virginal, like a fruitful vine spreading
iW around with growing branches, established
\tself in the whole Hibernian island, in which he,
as archbishop of the Irish bishops, and she, as
abbess whom all abbesses of the Scots venerate,
are pre-eminent, in happy succession and in per-
petual order/

9. In this remarkable passage it will be seen Peculiar
that many of the peculiarities of the antient Sll^wth
Church of Ireland may be traced. St. Brigid ^l^a
was evidently impressed with the necessity of J^^*^]^
hcving in connexion with her newly-founded o^J^^ware.
monastery a high priest or bishop, who should
take care ^ regularly in all things ' for the souls
of her followers ; consecrate her churches, and
* settle the ecclesiastical degrees ' (that is, ordain
presbyters and other clergy to minister) * in
them ; ' that so ' nothing should be wanting of
sacerdotal order in her churches,' or dependent
; religious houses. She regarded the presence of
a bishop as essential, not only to ecclesiastical
regularity, but also to the very salvation of the
souls of her people.

But it is equally clear that she had her bishop
under her own jurisdiction. * She engaged him
to govern the church with her^ If he was
anointed head of all bishops, she was most

Petric's valuable observations on it. the Scholia on the Martyrolog^ of

RamdTow^j, p.i^SfSq. (Trans, of Aengus the Culdee, of St. Brigid

^'lrithAcad.i\o\.xx.) Comp. also having been herself ordained a

Coigan's remarks on the three Pre- biihop by St. Moel or Mel, bishop

lacics of Kildare. Ibid. p. 626, sq. of Ardagh. Obits ami Martyrol.

%. F. ad ru. S. Brig., and the of Chrisfs Church. Introd. p.

curious story told by the author of xcvi. sq.

14 Antient Irish Bishops [introd.

blessed chief of all virgins ; if he had an episcopal
chair C^^athedra episcopalisj, she had a virginal
chair C^athedra puellarisj of equal rank and dig-
nity ; if he was always ^ archbishop ' of the Irish,
she was always the abbess whom all other abbesses
of the Scots venerated; for as he was pre-eminent
among the bishops of all Ireland, so she was pre-
eminent among the abbesses of the Scots ' in
happy succession and in perpetual order.' In
other words, this succession of bishops and ab-
besses had continued in unbroken pre-eminence,
from the days of St. Brigid to the time of her
biographer Cogitosus.
Meaning of ' o* Thc mcntion of the title of archbishop in
A^hbilhtp t^^ foregoing passage, and in some other records
irisT^'"' of the antient Church of Ireland, has given rise
Church to several mistakes and much confusion. Thus

Hiitory.

we are told that St. Fiacc, Bishop of Slebhte, or
Sletty, was consecrated a bishop by St. Patrick,
and afterwards constituted Archbishop of Lein-
ster* ; that King Brandubh, in a synod of clergy
and laity, decreed that the archbishopric of all
Leinster should be for ever in the see and chair
of St. Mocdhog^, or Mogue, that is, in Ferns,
and that St. Moedhog should accordingly be at
once consecrated * archbishop.'

Even Colgan was misled by these statements,
and inferred^ that Sletty, the see of St. Fiacc,

' Lnmter, See Colgan, Triad, ' Inferred. Colgan. Triad. Thaum

Thaum. p. 4, col. i. p. 524, col. 2. Usshcr has also fallei

** Moedhog. Vit. S. Maidoci, ap. into the same error. KeUg. of Ant

Colgan (Actt. SS. ad 31 Jan.Jf IrijA, ch. viii. (Works, vol. iv. p.

c. 24. 3»«.Jy)

mxROD.] in what sense called Archbishops. 15

was originally, in the lifetime of St. Patrick, the
archbishopric of Leinster ; that the archiepiscopal
jurisdiction was afterwards, by the influence of
St. Brigid, transferred to Kildare ; that it was
again transferred to Ferns about a.d. 598, or at
least before 604, in which year Brandubh, King
of Leinster, was slain^ ; and that it became per-
manently fixed in Dublin, after the foundation of
that see in the eleventh century.

Upon this Colgan builds an argument to prove
that Cogitosus must have lived before the archie-
piscopal see was transferred to Ferns, that is to say,
before a»d. 598, or at least before 604 ; because
he speaks of its having been in Kildare in his
time. Byeus^, however, the learned Bollandist
compiler of the life of St. Fiacc, draws an op-
posite conclusion from the same premises :
namely, that the scholia published by Colgan on
St. Fiacc's hymn, and all other authorities in
which the title of archbishop is to be found, can-
not possibly be earlier than the twelfth century.

Both conclusions, however, are erroneous.
The scholiast on St. Fiacc, whose words in the
original Irish have recently been published^ by
the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society, does
not say that Fiacc was Archbishop of Leinster,
but that having been consecrated a bishop by
St. Patrick, he became from thenceforth Ard-
epscop, a chief or eminent Bishop of Leinster.

* Slain. The Four M. date his » Published, Prefatory Scholium

death 60 1. Annals of Ulster, 604. to Fiacc's Hymn in praise of St.

^ Bjeus. Acta SS. Bolland. ad "P^tnok^Bookof Hymns of the Antient

i» Oct., p. 98, num. 7. Irish Churchy p. 187, 89.

1 6 Antient Irish Bishops [introd

The life of St. Brigid by Cogitosus, and the life
of St. Moedhoc, (attributed to a St. Evin, whose
age is uncertain,) if not written originally in the
Irish language, were both written by Irishmen tc
whom the vernacular word was familiar ; and it
is most natural that the authors, if they wrote in
Latin, or the translators, if the original were in
Irish, should have rendered the word Ard-epscop
by the seemingly equivalent Archbishop.^

The Irish word, however, did not imply any
thing of jurisdiction: and is not synonymous in
this respect with our present use of the term
Archbishop. It denotes only an eminent, or
celebrated bishop ; and there is nothing in it in-
consistent with the existence of several Ard^, or
chief bishops, at the same time, in the same dis-
trict, as Leinster. But it would be clearly im-
possible to suppose two or more Archbishops of
Leinster, or of all Ireland, in the modern sense of
the word, exercising jurisdiction, at the same
time, over the bishops of the same province. It
does not, therefore, at all follow that there might
not have been co-existing ^r^-bishops, at Slctty,
at Kildare, and at Ferns. This entirely destroys

* Archbishop, In every page of gogus,' and we have also huasai

the Irish annals we meet with such Uetg (glossed archiater)^ a noble, or

words as Ard-righ^ a chief or eminent chief physician. Zeuss, Gramm, Celt.

king. ifr^-/i>, a chief poet. Ard- p. 817. The office of Archi-syna-

anchoirey an eminent or remarkable gogus certainly implied jurisdiction

anchorite. Ard-tagnaidhty an emi- over others, and perhaps we may

nent sage or man of learning. In therefore infer, that the old Irisn

none of these cases is the notion of language would have expressed the

jurisdiction over other kings, poets, title of Archbishop, by uasal-

anchorites, or men of learning im- (not ard-) epscop = Angl. Sax.,

plied. In the Book of Armagh heah biscop ; but there is nothing of

(182, b. a) the word huasal-ter- jurisdiction implied in the term

chomrictid is glossed * archi-syna- * noble, or chief physician."

wTROD.] in what sense called Archbishops . 1 7

Colgan's argument for the early age of Cogitosus.
Bvit there is also another consideration. Cogito-
sus does not assert that the bishop appointed by St.
B rigid was Archbishop of Leinster in either sense
of the word. He says expressly that he was ^arch-
bishop of the bishops of Ireland ;' that is, an
eminent bishop amongst the bishops of Ireland,
as St. Brigid was an eminent abbess amongst the
abbesses of the Scots. This seems decisive of
the question. Cogitosus could not have asserted
that the Bishop of Kildare was Archbishop or
Primate of all Ireland in the modern sense of the
title. He meant only that the individual whom
Brigid had appointed her bishop was so remark-
able for learning or sanctity that he was regarded
as the chief among the bishops of Ireland.

It is curious to observe how Colgan labours to
restrict the words of Cogitosus to Leinster; doubt-
less because he felt that it would be very incon-
venient to maintain that the Bishop of Kildare in
St. Brigid's time had an archiepiscopal jurisdiction
over all Ireland. Hence he tells us in one place
that Cogitosus, ^ speaking of the Church of Kil-
dare,'^ says, that this bishop was pre-eminent as
'archbishop of the Irish bishops, and Brigid as
the abbess who was venerated by all the Scots.*
Cogitosus, however, was not speaking of the
fChurch of Kildare, but of ' the whole island of
Ireland.'^ The influence of the episcopal and

' lUUare. * Et in Prologo lo- pctuo dominantur.' — TriaJ.naum.,

^ns de ecclesia Kildariensi ait, p. 524, col. 2. It is clear that </<7-

quam semper Archiepiscopus Hiber- minantur must signify here pre-enu-

niendum episcoporum, et abbatissa nence^ not rule or jurisdiction.
&c. fclici successione et ritu per- * Ireland. * Ambonim meritis,

C

1 8 St. Brigid's Bishop in Kildare [nrmoa

virginal chair extended, he says, throughout all Ire-
land. The bishop and abbess of Kildare continued
to enjoy their pre-eminence * in a happy succes-
sion and by an enduring ordinance,' down to his
own time.

In another place Colgan, quoting the same
words, ^archbishop of the Irish bishops,'^ says,
* the meaning is, not that the Kildare bishop
was archbishop of all the Irish, but only of
the Leinster bishops.' But Cogitosus says very
expressly that he was archbishop of the Irish
bishops, nay, * head and chief of all bishops,' not
making the smallest allusion to Leinster. And is
it not therefore evident that this writer, by the
word Archbishop, or ^r^-bishop, meant only
a high or eminent bishop, and not a metro-
politan with archiepiscopal jurisdiction in the
modern sense of the word ?

Cogitosus further tells us (as we have seen)
that the jurisdiction Cp^^ochiaJ of the monas-
tery Cnot of the bishopj was ^ extended through-
out the whole Hibernian land, from sea to sea.'
This surely cannot mean Leinster only. And it
will be remembered that Bcdc, in the passage
already quoted, speaks of the jurisdiction of the

says Cogitosus, * sua cathedra adopt this interpretation, the * cathe-
episcopalis et puellaris, . . . . .in dra* of Brigid, or the monastery oj
tota Hiberniensi insula inolevit. Kildare, not the province of Leinster
Quam semper, &c/ — Ibid. p. 518. will be the extent of this arch-
It may be said that the word quam, bishop's jurisdiction : and the diffi-
in this passage, may refer to cathedra culty of an archbishop in Kildare
instead of to the nearer substantive without any authority out of his owi
insula j and that we must not accuse city, recurs.

Colgan of dishonesty for preferring * Bishops, Tr. Thaum., p. '525

the former construction, which better col. i, note 7.
suited his theory. But even if we

called an Archbishop. 19

of Hi\ not of the bishop, and notices it
markablc peculiarity that even the bishops
ubject to this authority.^
Coffitosus does not expressly name the st.Brigid'«

1 1 11 1 11 first Bishop

ite who, as he tells us, was selected by inKUdare.
igid to undertake ^with her' the spirit-
re of her churches, as her bishop. It is
t, however, from the subsequent part of
rrative, that Condlaed, who is afterwards
)ned, is assumed to have been the bishop
[iporary with St. Brigid. His tomb and
»f St. Brigid were placed, highly dcco-
fc\'ith pendent crowns of gold, silver, and
one on the right and the other on the left
high altar of the cathedraP ; and we may
)re safely infer that this Condlaed was the
vho had been chosen by her as her peculiar
, and who is generally regarded as first
) of Kildare. In two of the other lives of
, which Colgan has published, that attri-
to St. Ultan, and that attributed to Ani-
, ' the bishop ^ and prophet of God, who
in the south of the plain of LifFey,' and

Dr. Reeves {Adamnan^ * Bishop. * Conlianus episcopus et

e D., p. 258, jy.) has clearly propheta Dei, qui habitabat in dex-

at the modern name lona, tra Liffii campi, venit in curru ad

I to this Island, is a strange S. Brigidam," &c. ^it. pia (seu

irising from the change of Ultam)^ c. 51. Colgan, Triad.

in the old adjective form Thaum. '^. 532. * Conlianus Epis-

fl, taken from the genitive copus sanctus et propheta Dei, qui

•' the name / or //z ; lovus, habebat cellam m australi parte

im, of or belonging to Hi. Campi Liffii, venit in curru ad S.

TTtty. Bede uses the word Brigidam, ct commoratus est apud

to deaote the jurisdiction earn aliquot diebus; quem beata

mona.stery. See Reeves, Brigida primum episcopura elegit

, p. 65, n. and p. 336 n. iu sua ciritate Kildara.' Fit. ^a

uiral. Cogitosus, cap. 35. (seu Animoti) lib. ii., c. 19. Col-

rr. T//., p. 523. gan, 1^., p. 552.

C 2

^o History of Condlead [introd.

was by her elected first bishop in her city, or
monastery, of Kildare, is named Conlianus. This,
however, is to be regarded only as a Latinized
form of the Celtic name Connlead, or Condlaedy
under which he is best known in the Irish
annals and martyrologies ; and which was per-
haps an epithet descriptive of his merits or
virtues, and not his real name. The metrical
martyrology of Aengus the Culdee, written
at the close of the eighth century, and still ex-
tant in MS., thus records his death at the 3rd
of May^ :

* BaS CoNDLAID CAIN aige/
* The death of Condlaid, beautiful pillar.'

And the scholium or gloss on this passage, which
is probably not later than the eleventh centuryt
tells us that Condlaed is for Cundail-Aedby tha*
is ^ Aedh the wise.' ^ If this be so the bishop's
original name must have been Aedh, or Hugh^
and the title of Cundail, * the wise,' was given
him as expressing his ecclesiastical learning anJ
eminence.
Various The same scholiast (both in the Bodleian and

gwl^rto Dublin MS.) adds that the original name of
Bishop Condlaed was Ronchend, and that he
was the same as S. Mochonna of Daire. This
latter statement is probably incorrect^ occasioned
by the great number of places in Ireland that

* May, The year of his death Aengus in the Brussells MS. his
was A.D. 519, according to the Four the gloss, « i.e. sapiens* over the word
Masters j more correctly 520, as Cundail, But this gloss is not given
OTlaherty has dated the record of either in the Bodleian or Dublin MS.
it in the annals of Tighernach. of that work.

* Tht ivue. The Martyrology of » Incorrect. Sec Colgan, Actt,

him.

.] St. Brigicf s Jirst Bishop. zi

called Doire or Daire, an oak or oakwood,
lich Kill-dara, or Kildare^ the church of the
was one of the most famous.

lis variety of names, given to St. Brigid's confiision
bishop, may partly account for the very ofcarV
confusion which exists in the names of the ^fd°j^°^
bishops in the see of Kildare : a confusion^
h has no doubt been considerably increased
le absence of diocesan jurisdiction, and local
opal successions in the early ages of the
ch in Ireland. Our ecclesiastical biographers
historians, overlooking this fact, or anxious
^nceal it, and finding the names of several
>ps in the same place, took for granted that
must have presided in succession to each
' ; forgetting that, during the early period of
h we are speaking, the Irish bishops had no
ar succession or jurisdiction, and that there
frequently two or more contemporaneous
)ps in the same place.

' 8 Mart., p. 565, and the 77r., p 531, and note (23) p. 543.)
nt is not repeated by Michael In the * Vita quarta," attributed to
r in the. Martyrology of Aniraosus,we read that Kildare had
f, although he mentions its name from an antient oak. ' Ilia
d as the original name of jam cella Scotice dicitur Kill-dara,
Condlaed. Latine vero sonat Cella Quercus.
iare. Derry is another in- Quercus enim altissima ibi erat,
the original name is Daire, quam multum S. Brigida diligebat,
or oak wood, rendered ro- et benedixit eam, cujus stipes adhuc
by Adaranan and others. manet.' — Lib. ii. cap. 3. Colgan,
litive case of Daire is Dara j ibid., p. 550.
CiU-dara (Kildare), < the * Confusion, See Ware's Bishops,
of the oak.* Ath-dara, p. 386, sq. The list of early
) * the ford of the oak,' &c. bishops of Kildare, in the * Red
ran, loc. cit., p. 566, note 3, book of the Earl of Kildare,* (Cot-
Reeves, Adamnan, p. 160, n. ton, Fasti, part v., p. 222) is mani-
is translated Cella Roboris, festly of no authority, and only
afe of S. Brigid, attributed adds to the confusion. See Colgan
Itan, cap. 47. (Colgan, Tr. Tr. Th., pp. 628 and 565, note.

2Z The Bishop of Kildare

Subjection i^. It will also be observed that Animo:

Bisho*p oT the passage just quoted from his life of St. 1
^Brigid! *^lls ^s expressly that Condlacd was elcc
her, to be first bishop * in her city/ or mc
community ^ (Kildare), not to be bishop oi
or territorial district called Kildare. An
language clearly indicates the power clain
the monastic superior, although in this
female, over the bishop. The ^ city' waj
not his. He received from her his elect
nomination to his episcopal office, and was
fore bound to exercise that office, subject
jurisdiction, as bishop in her city, Kildar
that name, signifying * the Church of the
was then given, not to a diocese, but to tli
nastic establishment of St. Brigid only.
Ugendof If we are to credit a legend told b
gitosus, Brigid would seem to have ex(
a right of property over that which bel
to her bishop. * She followed,' says her \
pher, ^ the example of the most blessed Jo
never suffered the needy to pass her wit
gift ; for she gave to the poor the transi
and foreign vestments^ of Bishop Condk
glorious light, which he was accustomed
when offering the holy mysteries at the alt

* Community, So the word Civt- fcrcns mystcria utebatur, p

tas frequently signifies. See Book of largita est.' The biograj

Hymns of the Antient Church of Ire- tells us that when next tl

/aW, p. 136, note. required his vestments,

^Vestments, * Nam vestimenta exactly similar were mil

transmarina et pcrcgrina Episcopi conveyed to St. Brigid,

Conlaith, decorati luminis, quibus in riot ot two wheels, sent fn

solempnitatibus Domini et vigiliis Himself. Cogitosus^ cap.

Apostolorum, sacra in altaribus of- Colgan, Tr, T/r., p. 522.

Conlead's
▼estmenti.

Hmioix] subject to the Abbess. 23

the festivals of our Lord, and the vigils of the

A^postles/

The germ of the same story is also found in
the Irish metrical Life of St. Brigid, attributed
to St. Brogan, and composed, as Colgan w^ould
persuade us, about a.d. ^z$. This author, how-
ever, says nothing of her having given the vest-
ments to the poor, but only that she had blessed
them. His words^ are : —

* How many miracles she wrought,
No man can fiilly tell;

She blessed the vestments of Condlaed,
Which he had brought from Leatha.' ^

Perhaps the word translated ' she blessed ' may
have been intended to imply that she consecrated
them by giving them to the poor ; for the next
stanza speaks of their restoration : —

* When they were required by her,

Her Son ^ rendered the event propitious ;
He brought those variegated garments,
Carrying them in a two- wheeled chariot/

We learn however incidentally, from this
anecdote, that Condlaed had been abroad, and
had brought, either from Italy or from Brittany,
for the vsrord used in the metrical life may signify
cither, vestments composed of some variegated*

* Words. Colgan, TV. Th,, p. hymn had already told us (stanza
517 (stanzas 41, 42.) 2) that * Brigid was the mother of

• Leatha, Colgan translates this the Lord of Tieaven.' This, with
word Italia ; but it is often used other attributes of the B. V. Mary,
fcr Letavia, or Armorica. See Irish having been strangely assigned to
fftnmusy JJJit. Note^ xi. p. xix. her by the Irish. Sec Book of Hymns
Here, however, it most probably of the Antient Ch, of Ireland^ p. 64.
lignifies Italy or Latium. * Variegated. So they are de-

' Htr Son, The author of this scribed in both accounts. Cogitosus

death.

24 Story of the Death [introi^^

texture, which were regarded in that age as pecu —
liarly magnificent, and reserved exclusively for'
use on the greater festivals.
Anecdote of 10 Auothcf cuHous fact iu thc history of ther

St Cond- . *^ . - - . •'

^d'i bishop, which confirms to a certain extent that:
just related, at least so far as his travelling pro-
pensity is concerned, has been preserved by the
author of the Scholia^ on the ' Martyrology of
Aengus,' already quoted. This anecdote, as it
will throw some additional light upon tfie relative
position in which Condlaed and his patroness
were supposed to stand towards each other, may
be here related.

After telling us that his name Condlaed signi-
fied ' Aedh, the wise,' as above noticed, our author
proceeds : — ' He was bishop of Kildare, and wild
dogs [or wolves] devoured him, who followed
Condlaed, by the side of Liamhan^, in the plain

sajrs, speaking of the restored vest- valuable copy of thc work which
mcnts, * sirailia per omnia vcsti- Colgan had seen or was in possession
menta prioribus, tain texturis quam of. But it is certain that the anno-
coloribus,' c. 29. In the * Book of tations themselves were in existence
Durrow,' a MS. of the Gospels, said before Maguire was bom. The
to be the autograph of St. Columba, MS. from which the quotations cited
and now in the Library of Trin. in the text are taken, was written at
Coll. Dublin, there is a curious fi- the close of the 14th century — about
gurc of an ecclesiastic in a varie- 100 years before Maguire; and
fixated chasuble, thc texture of which there is another beautiful copy, writ-
is represented as composed of squares ten in the middle of the 1 3th cen-
of different colours, not unlike the tury, preserved in the Bodleian
modern Scottish plaid. Library (Laud, 610). Wc cannot,
* Schoiia. Coljgan has frequently therefore, be very far from the truth
quoted these Scholia or Annotations if we attribute this valuable and
on the * Martyrology of Aengus,' most curious collection of legends
under the title of Aengusius Auctus^ to a compiler who flourished in thc
and he attributes their composition nth or beginning of thc 12th cen-
to Cathald or Charles Maguire, who tury, but who evidently drew bis
died A.D. 1498. Colgan, 7>. T/r., materials from much more antient
pp. 608, 61'^^ et a/. passim i Actt. SS. sources.

p. 57. It is probable that Maguire ' Liamhan. Or Dun Liamhna^

may have been the transcriber of a now Dunlavan, a town in the

ufTROD.] of Bishop Condlaed. 25

of Leinster/ ^ He adds : — * This Condlaed was
Brigid's principal artist, and the reason why he
was killed by dogs was, that he had set out for
Rome^, in opposition to Brigid's command ;
wherefore Brigid prayed that he might come to
a sudden death on the way, and this was ful-
filled.' ^

We may hope, for the sake of St. Brigid's
Christianity, that this latter part of the story is
not exactly true. But whether the remainder
of the legend be founded on fact or not, it shews
very clearly that, in the times of the Scholiast, it
was taken for granted that the bishop in Kildare
was subject to St. Brigid or her successor, and
liable to the most extreme punishment from the
Almighty Himself for disobeying her commands.
There is nothing, however, at all improbable
in the anecdote, setting aside the implied
miracle. Condlaed, as we have already learned,
had previously visited the continent of Europe,
and brought from thence certain ecclesiastical
vestments for use on the higher festivals, so that
his desire to visit Rome was not unnatural ; and
he may have intended there to procure a new

founty^of Wicklow, and a prebend a.m. 3619, although of different

w St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. branches of that family.
This place was antiently one of the * Rome. This tends to prove that

forts or residences of the kings of by Leathoy in the passage just quoted

I-einster. from St. Brogan's metrical Life of

* litnster. Here follows the Brigid, Latium in Italy, not Letavia,

genealogy of Condlaed, which we or Brittany, is intended.
Offlit, as unnecessary for our present ' Fulfilled. See the Martyrol. of

purpose. It may be observed, how- Aengus (3 Maii), and the Scholia

e^r, that Brigid and her bishop in the Leabhar Breac, a MS. in the

*ere both of the race of Ugaine Library of the Royal Irish Aca-

Mor (Hugonius magnus as O'Fla- demy, Dublin, which is the copy of

^*«ty calls him), kmg of Ireland the Scholia here always quoted.

26 Condlead St. Brigtd^s Artist. [introd.

set of pontifical vestments for the more solemn
celebration of Divine service. But this design
the stern severity of his patroness discountenanced:
and if he was * eaten by wolves ' on his journey,
such an event would inevitably be attributed to
his having disobeyed the commands or wishes of
St. Brigid.
condiaed 1 4. It wiU also bc observed that, in the fore-

cWcf^t goii^g legend, Condiaed is said to have been
* Brigid's principal artist.'^ The word denotes
an artificer in gold, silver, and other metals, and
we know that the antient Irish ecclesiastics of
the highest rank did not consider it beneath their
dignity to work as artificers in the manufacture
of shrines, reliquaries, bells, pastoral staffs, croziers,
covers for sacred books, and other ornaments of
the Church and its ministers. The ecclesiastics
of that period seem to have been in fact the only
artists ; and several beautiful specimens^ of thei^
work are still preserved, chiefly belonging to th^
century or two centuries before the English in^ —
vasion of Ireland ; for almost all the older monu- —
ments of this kind, especially if formed of th^
precious metals, appear to have been destroyed o^
melted by the Danes.

Condiaed' s artistic skill and tastes, therefore^
may have formed a strong motive with him foi^

* Artist. Compare the curious Conla, (Tr. Ti*^z«/», p. 405.) But he

list of St. Patrick's household. Four is not to be confounded with Good-

Masters a.d. 448, in which he is laed of Kildare.

eiven t*wo artists. O'Donnell, in ' Specimens. See Petrie, RoumJ

his Life of S. Columbay lib. i., c. Tonuers^ p. 201. Trans. R. Irish

99, mentions a famous artist named Acad., vol. xz.

nrmoD.] Multiplication of Bishops. zy

wishing to visit Rome, even in opposition to the
commands of St. Brigid.

15. From the foregoing facts and anecdotes. The great

. . ... * 1 r number of

no doubt can remam m the mmd ot any unpre- independent
judiced reader, that the normal state of episcopacy the anticlit
in Ireland w^as as we have described, non-diocesan, ch^ch.
each bishop acting independently, without any
archiepiscopal jurisdiction, and either entirely
independent or subject only to the abbat of his
monastery, or in the spirit of clanship to his
chieftain.

The consequence of this system was neces-
sarily a great multiplication* of bishops. There
was no restraint upon their being consecrated.
Every man of eminence for piety or learning
was advanced to the order of a bishop, as a sort
of degree y or mark of distinction. Many of these
lived as solitaries or in monasteries. Many of
them established schools for the practice of the
religious life, and the cultivation of sacred learn-
ing, having no diocese, or fixed episcopal duties ;
and many'^ of them, influenced by missionary
^eal, went forth to the Continent, to Great
Britain, or to other then heathen lands, to
preach the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles.

* Multiplication, That there was sccration of bishops for villages, or

* tendency to multiply bishops in places where there were no towns.

»rly times on the continent ot Eu- * Many. Of these Mabillon

rope and in the East, as well as in says, * Fatendum est tamen ejusmodi

Ireland, is evident from the many episcopos plurimimi Ecclesise tum

canons of Councils made to restrict Gallicanx, tum Germanicx pro-

the practice. One of the earliest fuisse : tametsi nonnuUi (ut fit) per

enactments of this kind is that of speciem Evangelii prxdicandi, et no-

tbe Council of Laodicea, circ. a.d. mine et officio abusi suntsuo.^ Actt,

371, can. X 6, prohibiting the con- ^^. O. iJ. 5., iiV., Pr^, p. xiii.,n. 34.

i28 Great Number of Bishops [introd.

It is, therefore, an undoubted fact, that the
number of bishops in Ireland was very great
in early times, in proportion to the population,
as well as absolutely ; although we are not bound
to believe that St. Patrick^ consecrated * with
his own hand ' three hundred and fifty bishops,
founded seven hundred churches, and ordained
five thousand priests. These figures, however,
shew very curiously the ideas of the authors of
such a legend, as to the number of bishops and
priests which they deemed necessary for seven
hundred churches.

Neither are we bound to believe that when St.
Columba went from his monastery of Hi, in 590,
to attend the synod of Drumcheatt, near Dun-
given, in the county of Derry, he was attended*
by twenty bishops, two score priests, fifty deacons,
and thirty students preparing for holy orders.
But these numbers could scarcely have been in-
vented, if they had not seemed to the writer who
invented them probable, or such as would have
been deemed probable by others, in the times for

* St, Patrick. Nennius, c. 5. 'van's Transit at a.d. 493, p. 157.

Jocelin. Fit. Patriciiy c. 185, ap. Dr. Pctrie has published, from the

Colgan, Tr. Thaum. p. 106. The Irish MS. called the Leabhar breac^

author of the Tripartite Life, lib. an antient poem attributed to Ailc-

iii., c. 97, makes the number 370 ran, or Eleran, who died a.d. 66+,

bishops, 5000 priests ; innumerabU at a very advanced age, in which

clerks of the inferior orders (* cleri- Patrick is said to have consecrated

corum inferioris ordinis numerum 350 bishops, 300 priests, and 700

sine numero'), and 700 places of churches. Hist, and Antiq. of Tara

worship of all kinds, — < sacras aedes, HiU, p. 100 (Trans. Roy. Irish

sedes episcopales, monasteria, eccle- Academy, vol. xviii.). Sec also

sia-s sacella, promiscue connume- Ussher, Britt. Eccl. Antt ^ c. xvii.

rando,fundavit septingenta." Colgan, (Works, vol. vi., p. 518).
1^., p. 167. The Four Masters make * Attended. See the antient

the number 700 churches, 700 poem quoted by Dr. Reeves, EccL

bishops, and 3000 priests j O'Dono- Antiq. of Doavn and Connor, p. 131.

iNTROD.] In the early Irish Church. 2g

Avhich he wrote. No person would now venture
to assert that an abbat, himself only a priest,
was attended^ as a part of his retinue, by twenty
bishops, forty priests, and fifty deacons.

1 6. Mochta^ abbat of Lughmagh, or Louth, Thcmona«-
is said to have been a disciple of St. Patrick, st. m^u
He was by birth a Briton, who had travelled to °^^"^-
Ireland. The Irish martyrologies, and some
other authorities, call him a bishop. But he is
not so styled by Adamnan, nor by the biogra-
phers of St. Patrick ; and the Martyrology of
Christ's Church Cathedral, Dublin, speaks of
him as a 'confessor'^ only. Be this, however,
as it may, a curious poem ^ in the Irish language,
which is still preserved, tells us that such was
the wealth of St. Mochta's monastery, that he
was able to support there, without requiring
them to work for their livelihood, engaged alto-
gether in the pursuit of learning, three hundred
priests, and one hundred bishops, with sixty, or,
according to another reading, eighty singers ; and
that these numbers constituted the ordinary mo-
nastic * family,' or household of the monastery.

* Mochta. See Reeve's Adamnan^ longer extant, in which he thus de-

P- 6. Colgan, Actt, SS, ad 24 scribes himself, * Maucteus peccator,

^OTt. presbyter, Patricii discipulus, &c/

^ Confessor, * Et in Hybernia Colgan, Actt, SS, p. 735. Ussher,

Sancti Mocthei Confessoris/ Obits Primordy (Works, vi., p. 416.)

0^ Martyr, of Ckr, Church (19 * Poem, The anticnt poem al-

^"g)> P' >47- In the list of St. luded to occurs in the additions to

Patriclc's household, given in the the Martyrology of Aengus ; (see

Tripartite Life (iii., c. 98, Triad. Obits and Mart, of Chr, Churchy

'^haum.^ p. 167), and by the Four loc, cit.)^ and is quoted in the Mart.

Masters (a.d. 448), Mochta is of Donegal (at 19 Aug.) ; also

railed the presbyter, or Archi-pres- by the Four Masters at a.d. 534

byter of Patrick. There was also (p. 178)} and by Colgan, Actt, SS.

an epistle attributed to him, but no p. 734.

30 The Monastic Society [»

It has been suggested^, indeed, that t
figures may represent only the total nun
of bishops, priests, and singers who had' eman
from the monastery, or had received their <
cation there during the long life of St. Moc
who is believed to have reached the age of r
than a century.^ But the antient poen:
which the statement occurs gives these num
to prove that the monastery was not poor, i
much as it sustained so many ecclesiastics,
voted to learning only, as the family or ho
hold of the abbat, without requiring then
work for their bread. The original words
they have been printed by Colgan himself^, \
a literal translation, are as follow : —

' Nir bo bochta muinnter Mochta, Lughmaigh lis ;
Tri ced sagart, um ced nespog, maille fris,
Tri fichit seanoir salmach, a theglach rioghda remend ;
Gan ar, gan buain, gan tioradh, gan gniotnhradh, acht
legend.

' Not poor was the family of Mochta, of Louth's fort !
Three hundred priests, and an hundred bishops along with
, Threescore singing elders*, composed his royal noble* h
hold.

^ Suggested. Colgan, Actt. SS. the lines, which mention tl

p. 73 1 , note 8, say», * Nonnullis forte bishops and 300 priests,

nimis excessivus hie numerus 100 ' A century. Even Colgan

episcoporum et 300 prcsbyteronim, the fable that Mochta live*

exunascholaprodeuntium,videripos- years. Loccit,^ p. 734.

set ; sed si rem penitiusconsiderent, ' Himteif. One or two c

non est hie ambigendi locus j ex ve- typographical errors in C<

tustissimi dierum magistri discipulis, text nave been corrected ) as

successive ejus celeberrimam scho- for bochta^ &c.

lam frequentantibus, facile tantus * Elders. Instead of S^

numerus exurgere posset." It is * elders,' the Scholiast on I

remarkable that the Martyrology reads Searclann^ * youths,' wl

of Donegal, as well as the Four better.

Masters, in quoting this poem, omit * NohU. Or magnifieent, so <

mc^oD.] of St. Mocbta of Loutb. 3 1

Tliey ploughed not, they reaped not, they dried not com, they
laboured not, save at learning only.'

It is quite clear, therefore, that the author^ of
these lines intended to represent the monastic
* family' or household of St. Mochta as ordi-
narily consisting of an hundred* bishops, three
hundred priests, and sixty singing men, living
together, engaged in ecclesiastical studies only.
And therefore such numbers must have appeared
to him, and to those for whom he w^rote, if in
some degree exaggerated for the honour of the
saint, to have been at least w^ithin the limits of
possibility. It vv^as not deemed absolutely absurd
that an hundred bishops^ should be found living
together in the household of a famous monastery.

17. There is abundant evidence, indeed, to Groups of
show that two or more contemporary bishops po^"
frequently lived together, during the early period uvtnTto-

Knders the word remend here. But gusto regno, in quo nee quadraginta

*e may perhaps translate it more nodie reperiuntur ?' He answers, by

correctly * enumeration,' — thus, asserting that Ireland was then more

'composed his household — a royal rich and prosperous than now : full

numeration.' of towns and cities, where every

' Author. Colgan's copy of the town, every village, every great

Scholiast on Aengus/(?f. fi/., p. 734, monastery had its proper bishop.*

attributed this poem to St. Colum- * Respondeo, Regnum illud eo aevo

cille. But in the Dublin MS. it is longe florentius cxtitisse, longe plu-

anonymous. ribus civitatibus, oppidis, vicis et

' An hundred bishops. This great divitiis abundasse j et singula paene
number of bishops, which created no oppida, monasteria celebriora, et
<iiifiailty to the author of the legend, aliquando vicos, proprios habuisse
or to the Scholiast of Aengus, who episcopos, ut liquido constat legenti
lias preserved it, was a serious puzzle acta nostrorum sanctorum, et prae-
to Colgan. Notwithstanding his sertim S. Patricii,' etc. This, how-
attempt to solve it by spreading the ever, is an admission that there were
hundred bishops over a century, bishops without sees, and that the loo
another difficulty remained. In his bishops of Louth were contem-
mind a bishop necessarily implied an porary ; for otherwise, if we scatter
episcopal sec; and hence he asks, them through loo years and among
{ubi supra, P. 73'), * Sed ubi, in- cvei^+o sees, the difficulty will cease
quis, tot scdcs episcopales in an- to exist.

monastery.

^Z Groups of seven Bishops [iimioi

gjether in q{ which wc sDcak, ill the same town, church

the same * ,

church or or monastcry. The antient Calendars, or Mar-
tyrologies, for example, frequently assign to the
same day the festivals of such bishops. The
number is almost always seven, which may
perhaps be connected with the fact that seven
churches are found together in many parts oi
Ireland.

Thus the Martyrology of Donegal mentions
the following groups of seven bishops, at the
respective days here given : —

yan, 15. The seven bishops of Drom-arbelaigh, who arc
said to have been brothers, sons of Finn, or Fincrittan.

May 28. The seven bishops of Teach-na-ccomarcc, itt
Tirconnell, near Lough Foyle.

July 21. The seven bishops of Tamhnach Buadha', said to
have been also the sons of one father.

Aug. 23. The seven bishops of Aelmhagh, at DomhnacH
mor.

Oct. 3. The seven bishops of Cluan Cua, or Cluan Caa»
said to have been brothers, the sons of one father.

Nov. I. The seven bishops of Cill-tidil.

But this list is completely eclipsed by the
141 groups of seven bishops of various churched
and places in Ireland, who are invoked in the
Irish Litany^, attributed to Aengus Cele De, or
the Culdee, and probably composed in the ninth
century.

* Tamhnach BuaJha, Or Tain- authenticity. Sec especially Jctt. SS.^
nach Buithe, as in the Litany of p. 535, note 11; and Ward, Fit.
Aengus. •^. Rumoldi^ p. 106. The original

* Litany, This curious work has is preserved in the Leabhar BreaCf
never been printed. It has been fre- fol. xi, a., and in a fragrment of
quently quoted and referred to by the Book of Leinster, now in the
Colgan, who makes no doubt of its College of St. Isidore, at Rome.

iNTROD.] living In the same place. g^

It is to be remarked also that some places in
Ireland still retain the names given them from the
number of bishops, who formerly lived there
together: as, Tulacb na nespotCy the hill of the
bishops ; Rath na nespoic, the fort of the bishops ;
Disert na nespoicy the desert or retreat of the
bishops ; Dombnacb na nespotCy the church of the
bishops, &c.

That these were considered to have been con-
temporaries is evident, not only from their being
grouped together in the Irish Calendar for religious
commemoration on the same day, but also from
some of the groups being described as the sons of the
same father. It may be said, indeed, that even if
this were so, it is not necessary to suppose them
to have lived together in the same place. All that
is implied in the notices of them that have been
quoted is, that they were buried in the same
burial-place, and their memories especially ho-
noured on the same day, and in the same church.
But in every instance these groups of bishops
are said to have been ofy not /«, their respective
churches ; and when burial only is intended, this
latter form of expression is always employed.

1 8. There is, however, an anecdote on record The seven
relative to one of these groups of bishops, which ciuZ-°
puts it beyond all doubt that they at least were '""'^
contemporaries, and living together, not buried
together, in the same church.

The story occurs in the curious life of St.
Forannan, which Colgan* has translated from

' Colgan. Actt. SS. p. 336 sq.
D

34 The seven Bishops of Clonovon. [inthoo.

the original Irish, and published at Feb. 15th.
Forannan is represented as having been a relative
and disciple of St. Columba; and Colgan has
remarked, that the author must have compiled
his w^ork from ancient and trustworthy materials,
because he appears to have himself lived after
the year 1 200 ; and although he mentions by
name a great number of persons and places, be
has not fallen into a single anachronism or in-
consistency.^

Forannan is said to have accompanied St.
Columba to the synod of Drumcheatt, of which
we have already spoken.^ Immediately after the
business of the synod was concluded, our author
tells us that Columba proceeded to the barony
of Carbery, county of Sligo, for the purpose of
founding a church at DrumclifFe. He stopped
at Easdara, now Ballysadare, where he was met
by a large concourse of ecclesiastics, male and
female, of all ranks. Our author professes to
enumerate only those who were descended from
Cumaine, daughter of Dalbronach, and sister of
Brogsech, the mother of St. Brigid. He men*
tions on the whole, about thirty bishops and
saints, including females. Among the names
which are given at length, but which it is
not to our present purpose to quote, we find
mention of * the seven bishops of Cluain-Hc-
main,' or Cluain-emain, now Clonown^, near

' Inconsistency. Colgan, /. f., p. • Clonown. Sec 0*Donovan, /jf

338, note I. Many^ p. 79. Four Masters, a.I>-

* Spoken. Sect. 1$^ supra. 1089.

•moD.] Why seven Bishops lived together. g^

Lthlone on the Shannon. It is evident, there-
ore, that these bishops must have been regarded
IS living, and living together, when they are
represented as having attended to do honour to
Columcille on this occasion. The genealogy of
the saints in the Book of Lecan represents them
as brethren, the sons of the same mother; and
they are invoked as the seven bishops of Cluain-
emain\ in the Litany of Aengus.

The fact that Aengus was able to enumerate Theesta-
no less than 141 places in Ireland where there ©flc^n"'
were, or had been, seven contemporary bishops, ^|^^°^ ***
seems to indicate the existence of an institution, f^?^^""

' insbtubon

founded upon the mystical seven of the Apoca- ch^^^"*^
lypse. The institution itself continued, perhaps,
for a short time only; and its object and practical
operation are now forgotten. The circumstance
that many, if not all, these groups of seven bishops
were brothers or near relatives, added no doubt
to the mystery, in the eyes of a clannish people,
and in a church whose institutions were all so
deeply tinged with the spirit of clanship and
hereditary succession.

We can only now conjecture that the places in its probable
which seven bishops had established themselves l^"^^""
were intended to be centres of instruction and de-

* Oumn-emain, Colgan, who forced and unnatural. If Colgan

■ greatlv puzzled by this story, could have brought himself to ac-

^gcststhat they were called bishops knowledge the non-diocesan epi-

w Cluain-emain, not because they scopacy of the early Irish Church,

*CT€ bishops of that see, but because he would have had no more difficulty

™«jr were aifterwards buried there, or in understanding how seven bishops

TOuse they had been monks there might live together, than in under-

Worethey were bishops, be. cit.^ p. standing how seven priests might

359>«>tc a8. But thb is exceedingly live together.

D 2

36 The Missionary character [ini

votion to the surrounding tribes ; that the offi
of the Church were there celebrated with pecu
pomp and solemnity, kept up, in all probabil
without intermission, day and night ^ hence
people flocked to these centres of religion, cert
to find there at all times the teaching, the con
lation, and the aids to devotion, which were t
adapted to their wants and circumstances.

Such an institution must be viewed in o
nection with the missionary duties of the Chu
at that period. It was an institution tempoi
in its nature, but well adapted to a wild ;
imaginative people, fond of mystery and s)
holism, easily attracted by external pomp
ceremony.
The mis- 1 9. The Irish Church, it should be remembe
tion*2ihT' was planted in a heathen land, and for some c
churd»"cx- turies continued to be surrounded on all sides 1
^IJU„^™! very gross form of heathenism, derived partly fi
reguiaritict. ^^ic aboriginal superstitions and idolatry of
people, and partly, at least in later times, from
pagan rites and doctrines of the Danes or No
men, who had established themselves in the cc
try. The consecration of bishops without
was therefore a matter of necessity ; nor wa
irregular that bishops should be so consecra
whose duties were essentially missionary ;
abundance of the harvest led very naturally

' Day and night. St. Bernard tells vacarct a laudibus/ Fit, S. MaL

us that St. Columbanus established c. 6. But this enactment is

this, as he did other Irish customs, in be found in the Rule of St. C

his monastery of Luxeuil : Mta ut ne banus as we now have it.
inomentum quidem diei ac noctis

>.] of the early Church of Ireland. ^y

iness which later ages have thought laxity,
le multiplication of labourers, and every one
• was deemed qualified by his piety or learning
pread Christianity among the savage Picts,
leathen Saxons of Great Britain, was, as a
iral consequence, deemed qualified to receive
:opal consecration. At home the Church

struggling against a lawless and savage
inism, in the midst of which neither life nor
)erty was secure ; and against a state of society
vhich a Christian life was impossible, except
1 community exclusively Christian. Hence

monastic character impressed upon Irish
istianity from its first introduction into

island. A coenobitic association (not al-
s rigidly confined to one sex), seemed the
iral and almost the only means of mu-

protection. Such societies were therefore
led in many places, and became centres of
isation, schools of learning, examples of
istian piety, charity, and devotion. But these
blishments were necessarily isolated, and often
mt from each other. They were, therefore,
pelled to provide, each within itself, the
ns of obtaining for their inmates all the
» of the Church, those which could be
inistered by priests, and those of which the
)er minister was a bishop only. Hence, the
lastic bishop of the Scotic religious houses.

abbat, or superior, may have been a pres-
r only, or a layman, or, as in the case of
Brigid, and her dependent abbesses, even a

38 The Bishops of the Clans. [int

woman. But a bishop was always conneci
with the society, although without diocese
jurisdiction, and bound like other inmates of t
monastery to render an absolute obedience
his monastic superior.
ThcBishopi Afterwards, when one of the petty kings
Clans. chieftains embraced Christianity, he provided
bishop, sometimes more than one bishop, a
other clergy, for the benefit of his clan. T
district which owed allegiance to the chiefta
and was inhabited by his followers, became t
proper field of labour to his bishops and cler;
and this was the first approach made to
diocesan or territorial jurisdiction in the Chui
of Ireland.^ Thus, the bishoprick of Cill-mh
Duach (now Kilmacduagh), is the antient tei
tory inhabited by the clan of the Ui-Fiachrs
Aidhne; the diocese of Enach-Duin (Am
down), was co-extensive with lar-Connaug
or West Connaught, the seigniory of the OT
hertys^; the diocese of Cill-Finnabrach (n«
Kilfenora), was the tribe-land of the Cor
Modruaidh, or Corcomroe ; the present dioc
of Ossory very nearly represents the antient t
ritory of the Ossraighe ; and Corca-Laidhe, 1
country of the O'Driscolls, or the Dairinnc,
identical with the diocese of Ros-Ailithre,
Ross, now united to the see of Cork.

' Ireland, On the early episcopal by Mr. Hardiman, for the !

divisions of Ireland, see Reeves, Archaeological Society, p. i.

EccL Hist, tf Down and Connor ^ pp. says * Its Cathedrall (tor every

1*6 — 127. seigniory had its own, whose dii

' The 0^ Flaherty* 5, See Rod. runned with the seigniory *s bou

OTUherty*s West Cvmtaught^ edited was Enagh-dun,* &c.

mm.] Emigration of Irish Bishops. 39

10. At the close of the eighth century^ parties TheDmiih
)f Icelandic, Danish, and other Norse adventurers ireu^dTwid
ippcarcd for the first time on the coasts of Ireland, ^e^c^'
The churches and monasteries had then amassed
omc wealth, and were supposed to have amassed
nuch more wealth than they really possessed.
The plunder of these establishments, therefore,
kas the first object of the pirates. Many of them
kcrc burned to the ground. A great number of
ishops and priests were consequently thrown
pon the world, without a home and without
heir ordinary duties. Many of these emigrated
1 search of employment to England, and to the
ontincnt. Ignorant of diocesan or metropo-
tical jurisdiction at home, they had no idea
bat they were violating all ecclesiastical order,
• hen they exercised their functions, without any
rfcrcnce to the local bishops, abroad. They had
:ft Ireland without letters commendatory to
^rcign bishops ; they brought with them no cer-
ficate of orders, no evidence to prove that they
ad themselves been canonically consecrated or
rdaincd. They administered the Sacraments,
onsccrated churches, conferred Holy Orders and
onfirmation, and heard confessions, wherever
bey went, without any regard to parochial or
i<x:csan regulations, or the decrees of Councils ;
nd it is to be feared that some of them, forced
y their necessities, may have given good grounds
>r the accusation of simonv that was fre-
ucntly made against them.

* EigkiA cemtmry. The Irish Annals give a.D. 795 as the exact date.

40 Canons made In the gtb Century

Severe laws
against the
Epiicopt
vagi trom
Ireland.

Council of
Chalons-
sur- Saone,
813.

2 1 . A knowledge of the peculiar posit
episcopacy in -Ireland at this period, throw:
light upon the conduct of these wanderir
clesiastics, and explains the reason of the
laws that were passed by some Synods and
cils in England, and on the continent \
them.

Fpr example, a provincial council of I
and abbats, held under Charlemagne, at CI
sur-Saone, in 813, declares the orders coi
by these Scotic bishops to be null and

' JVandering. That there were
also bishops without dioceses on the
continent, at this period, who were
not Irish, is evident from Can.
14, of the Concilium Fcrmeriensey
as it is called, a synod held under
King Pepin, a.d. 75a or 753, in
the royal mansion of Vermcrie, dio-
cess of Soissons. * Ut ab episcopis
ambulantibus per patrias ordinatio
presbyterorum non fiat : si autem
boni sunt illi presbyteri, iterum con-
secrentur/ Richard, in his Analyse
ties ConcileSy shocked at this recog-
nition of a reiteration of Orders,
suggests, * On nc croyoit pas sans
doute que ces evcques ambulans
eussent rc^u Tordination episco-
pale, ct qu'ils fussent veritablement
^veques/ But the title of this canon
is * Ut ab episcopis vagis presbyteri
non ordinentur/ If they were not
really bishops, that would have been
a better reason for declaring their
ordinations void, than their being
episcopi ambulantes or <vagi. But
this * Council,' which seems rather
to have been a sort of local Parlia-
ment, at which secular lords were
present, promulgated very unsound
principles as to the dissolution of
marriage } and we need not, there-
fore, wonder if it was also ignorant
of the law of the Church against
repeating ordination j Concil. Ver-
meriensey c. xiv. (Hardouin, Condi. ,

tom. iii., 1992). The Coi
the bishops of Gaul, assc
KingPepm,Julyii,755, :
palace of Vemeuil, on the
creed that all wandering bi
had no dioceses (episcopi
qui parochias non habent),
incapable of exercising anj
without permission of the
the diocese, on pain of •
from their office j and that
or laics who take part ^
bishops be excommunicat<
reason alleged for this «
* nee scimus ordinatione
qualiter fuit/ Concil. Ver
Vernorense)y c. xiii. (Ha;
1997.) It is not said, hov
these episcopi <vagantes w
and as the date of this
prior to the Danish invasi
land, the probability is
were other wandering bi;
other bishops without see
whom these enactments w
besides the Irish, and befoi
began to visit the contine
* Foid. See Concil. Cabi
can. 43. 'Sunt in quibu
Scoti, qui se dicunt epis<
et multos negligentes, abs
tia dominorum suorum, s
strorum, presbytcros et di
dinant : quorum ordinatio
plerumque in Simoniaca^^
naeresim, et multis erroi

iNx-K-oD.] against Bishops without Dioceses. 41

cxipressing a doubt as to the validity of their

episcopacy, and accusing them of simoniacally

admitting unfit persons and serfs to the orders

of priest and deacon, without license or permis-

sian from the lords and masters of the persons

so ordained.* The title of the canon which

pronounces this sentence is, * On the nullity of

the ordinations conferred by the Scoti, who call

themselves bishops.'

In England, a synod was convened under coundiof
Cenwulf or Kenulph, King of the Mercians, and f^^^^^'
Wulfred, Archbishop of Canterbury, which met
at Cealcythe^ on the zjth of July, 816. By
the fifth canon of this assembly, no person of
Scoticrace, 'de genere Scotorum,'^ is permitted
in any diocese to exercise the sacred ministry ;
and it is declared unlawful for the clergy to
receive any assistance from these Scotic eccle-
siastics, either in baptisms or in the celebration
of the mass, or in administering the Eucharist

j^ raodis omnibus irritam fieri de- was in 1098 that Eadgar assumed

'^fe omnesuno consensu decrevimus/ thetitle of King of Scotland, or Scotia.

Hardouin, Concil., torn, iv., 1039. But Ireland still continued to retain

* Ordained, There were severe the name to a much later period.

«ws against the ordination of a See Fleming, Collectanea Sacra, p.

*^ve or freedman without his mas- 284. Therefore we must always

^f*s consent. See Bingham, Antiq., understand Ireland when we meet

^k iv., ch. 4, s. 2 ; and Gratiani with the words Scotia or Scoti in

^fcretumy part i., Dist. liv. any author who flourished before

' Cealcythe. It is not ascertained the twelfth century. In later wri-

''^CTe this place was; Chalk (in ters, when Ireland is intended, it is

^cnt), Chelsea, and Chulcheth frequently distinguished as Scotia «i;^-

(in Lancashire), have been suggested /«/, ulterior , major, or Scotia insula :

^ difFtrcnt authors. but this is not al ways the case, and we

' Scotorum, It will be borne in are frequently left to determine from

mind that the name of Scotia was the context only, whether the Irish

•tot generally given to the present or the British Scotia is intended.
Scotland until 3ic 12th century. It

4^

Canon of the Synod of Cealcytbe [introd.

to the people/ The reasons given for this severe
sentence, are : first, because it was uncertain
whether or by whom the Scotic bishops were
ordained; and, secondly, because they scrupled
not to enter other dioceses without the consent of
the diocesan. A third reason is added, which is
deserving of notice, because it evidently alludes
to the absence of metropolitical jurisdiction in
the Irish ^ Church: — 'We know it to be en-
joined in the canons that no bishop or presbyter
venture to intrude upon the parish of another
without the consent of his own bishop. So
much the more should we refuse to receive the

^ People, It seems that even so
late as the later half of the twelfth
century, there were pseudo-bishops,
pretending to be Irish, travelling
about in England, and performing
episcopal functions. They are men-
tioned in a circular letter addressed
to the bishops of his province,
by Richard, Archbishop ot Canter-
bury, which is preserved amongst
the works of Peter of Blois ; they
are called 'quidam pseudo-episcopi
Hibemienses, aut Scoticae linguae
simulantes barbariem,* and it is said
qf them, * Quum enim gratiam
sacrae unctionis nunquam acceperint,
celebrant ordines, ecclesias dedicant,
altaria consecrant, benedicunt ab-
bates, et sic victum et vestitum misere
mendicantes, sacraments nostrae re-
demptionis miserabilem et lacrima-
bilem convertunt in questum.' — Pet,
Blesetu. Epist. liii. But these seem
to have been actually impostors $
possibly, however, they may have
been real bishops, driven from Ire-
land by the Norman invaders under
Henry II. ; in that case, however,
they would have had no occasion to
feign the Irish language, and would
not have been described as * Scoticx

linguae simulantes barbariem/ In
that age forged bulls, and other
similiar frauds were common. The
dies or matrices for manufacturing
the leaden seals of such bulls have
been found in the ruins of some of
the Anglo-Norman abbeys of Ire-
land ; and there may have been also
pseudo-episcopi and others going
about to vend such wares. But
why did they pretend to be Irish ?
Was their trade advantaged by an
attempt to speak the 'barbarous*
tongue of Ireland ?

" Irish, It is strange that John-
son, in his notes on this Canon,
makes the absurd mistake of con-
founding the Scoti here spoken of
with the modem Scotch. EtigBsk
Canons^ part i., 301 {Amglo-Catk,
Library), He sap, * It is most rea-
sonable to understand this canon of
the Scots of North Britain.* But
in the year 816 the Scots of North
Britain were not so called. V^There-
as, we know, from Bede, Adam-
nan, and other authorities, that the
Irish were then ordinarily called
Scoti y and Ireland Scotia, by every

iNTROD.] against the Scotic Clergy. 43

sacred ministrations from foreign nations, amongst
whom no rank^ is given to metropolitans, nor
honour to other [bishops].'

From this passage we may evidently conclude Nodioceian
that the supposed peculiarity of the Irish Church udSfpri^
with respect to episcopal jurisdiction was then ^S^a*"
well known in England, seeing it is made an
objection to the ministry of an Irish bishop
travelling, or seeking employment elsewhere, that
in his own country there were no dioceses, pro-
perly so called, no regular episcopal or archi-
episcopal jurisdiction, and no limit or canonical
restraint upon the consecration of bishops. And
we know this to have been the* case, from the
native records of Irish Christianity. The juris-
diction of a bishop attached to a monastery de-
pended upon the will of his abbat to whom he
owed allegiance ; and so far as the functions
peculiar to his order were concerned, extended
probably over the cells or minor religious houses
attached to the principal monastery, as at Hi,
Kildare and other places. The jurisdiction of a

* No rank, * Interdictum est : ut ministcria pcrciperc, cum quibus

^\\\i%^rTDAXt2itMT d£ genere Scotorum null us ordo metropolitanis, nee

in alicujus dicecesi sacrum sibi mi- honor aliis habeatur/ Cone, Celt-

nistcrium usurpare : neque ei con- f^M.,can. 5.(Hardouin,Cp»rt7., torn,

^entire liccat ex sacro ordine aliquod iv., 1220.) The meaning is this : the

^ngere, vel ab eis accipere in bap- canons prohibit any priest or bishop

^0, aut in celebratione missarum, from entering the parish or diocese

^1 etiam Eucharistiam populo prae- of another without his own bishop's

here : quia incertum est nobis, unde, or metropolitan's consent j how then

ct an ab aliquo ordinentur. Scimus can we receive the ministry of those

^juomodo in canonibus praecipitur, who, in their own country, acknow-

"t nullus episcoporum [vel] pres- ledge neither metropolitical nor dio-

^yterorum invadcre tentaverit alius cesan jurisdiction ? and, therefore,

P*rochiam, nisi cum consensu pro- can bring no authorisation or con-

prii episcopi. Tanto magis respuen- sent from their own bishop3 ?
<luni est ab alienis nationibus sacra

44 Bishops without Sees [inteod.

bishop who was connected with a chieftain or
' king,' came nearer to the ordinary notion of a
diocesan superintendence, and, as wx have already
observed, extended over the w^hole territory or
district of the clan. This was particularly the
case with Armagh, and hence some writers have
spoken of the See of Armagh, as if it was an
exception^ to the general rule. But this, as wc
shall have occasion to shew hereafter, was not
the case. The antient primacy of Armagh
differed essentially from the modern notion of
archiepiscopal or metropolitical jurisdiction.
Biihops 22^ Nor was the Irish system so entirely/

not peculiar without cxamplc in other parts of Christendom ^

to Ireland. « . 1 1 ,

as has been generally assumed.

That it should be found in North Britain, th^
modern Scotland, is not wonderful. All th^
religious and ecclesiastical institutions of Scot —
land ^ were derived from the parent Scotia ; hcr^

* An exception. Thus Lanigan, yet been divided into dioceses. < Pon-
referring to the Canon of the Synod tificiam sedem dudum Pictorum ab
of Cealcythey above quoted, says that Abernethi oppido, eo ferro ct igne
it alluded * it seems, to the Irish sys- deleto, ad Templum Reguli transtulit.
tern, according to which there was Exinde huic oppido Sancti Andres
no regular metropolitical see except a^des nomen est factum, eosque qui
the primatical one of Armagh.' illuc per pluscula inde tempera sa-
EccL Hist., vol. iii., p. 276, note 31. crum gessere magistratum, maximos

* Scotland, Hector Boethius, lib. Scotorum episcopos appellarunt.
X. (quoted by Spelman, Concil., torn. Nondum enim Scotorum regnum,
i., p. 341), speaking of Kenneth, uti nunc, in diocoeses divisum erat :
King of Scotland, A.D. 840 — 855, sed quivis episcoporum, quos ea
tells us that he transferred the prin- state vitac sanctimonia cunctis re-
cipal bishopric of the Picts from verendos fecerat, quocunque fiiisset
Abcrnethy to CiU-Righmonaigh^ the loco sine discrimine pontificia mu-
Church of St. Rule or St. Regulus, nera obibat.' This passage very
changed that name to St. Andrew's, exactly describes the ancient Irisn
and ordained that the bishops of St. episcopal system, which continued
Andrew's should thenceforward be in both countries (as it did al«o
the chief bishops of Scotland ; for in some other places), until the
(he adds) the kingdom had not as close of the eleventh century. From

not peculiar to Ireland. 45

al churches and monasteries were founded

\i saints, and bear the names of Irish saints

day. But we have evidence also to prove

ishops without sees existed in very early

»n the Continent of Europe, as well as in

St, and were not objected to as irregular.

Council of Macon, a.d. 585, three bishops comicnof

resent and subscribed the Acts, who had 51^^"*

.* And more than two centuries before

ic first Council of Antioch, in the year 341, cwmeu of

»ncd by Constantius to give greater solem* ^*^

the consecration of the magnificent church

Constantine had begun ten years before at

h, makes mention of bishops without sees',

ops without duties, as the original term

:o imply {ifrltrKOTtoi (nto\al^oyr%i\^ and enacts

or their government, but without pro-

1: the consecration of such bishops, and

t appearing to regard them as at all irrc-

1 themselves.

)ng the monks of Exiessa in the fourth cen- Monks oi

vc read of two, Barses and Eulogius,

ned by Sozomen^ in his 'Ecclesiastical

d hKtorian^ appear to also£/£fr<^Ti^«iifr/(asinthcCoun-

irctl to conceal and sup- cilof Vemcuil ^ secabove,p. 4o,iiotc

race« of it, and even to i ), and Fartfxfr/. In the Council of

;ime« Keith and Soottis- Lyons, so late as 1449, they are spoken

Scotland, Colgan, Ware, of as * Episcopi PwrtmtiUt,^ Mart, md

i Lanigan in Ireland, a.v Dwrand. Amicd,^ torn, iir., 377^ n. 4.

txi^ttnce of regular dio- ' Barses, Another rnding calls

'\«ioa« in all the principal him Sarses,

:h countries, contrary to * Soxsmem. Hist, EccL, lib. vi.,

nyof all authentic history. cap. 34. L«pei|c ri cat EvXoyioc* vi

Concil. Matiscon. Har- gm tirtvc4rt# 4fif«f fewnpov iytvioi r,

iii., 466. oil woktmc riv«c, mKXd rt^^c <vfc«*',

1/ ten. CoHcil. Antioch.^ o**'ra|ioi^fc dm^ Ttvwy aMiQ irt-

,can. i9.They wcrecallctl v.'Afii^Jvwr, x*'^v^>'^*^*C iv ro«c

46 Bishops without Sees [introo-

History,' who were bishops without sees, and wtio
had been consecrated in exact accordance witH
the Irish custom, as a mark of honour. 'In
Edessa,' says this historian, ' and in the cities
around it, were at that time very celebrated
philosophers y (for Sozomen ordinarily uses this
title to denote monks,) 'Julian, and Ephraeun
Syrus, the author, (of whom we have already
spoken, in the reign of Constantius,) Barses also^
and Eulogius, who were both afterwards bishops^
not of any city, but as an honourable distinctior^
in recognition of their great merit, consecrated irB^
their own monasteries.' He adds that Lazarus^
whom he had mentioned just before, was m^
bishop of the same kind ^ that is to say, a bishop
without a see. This Lazarus, it appears, wa^
The monks thc bishop of the monks called Boscoi, from their
BoKoi. peculiar discipline, or philosophy, as Sozomen^
calls it, of which they were the first inventors.
They had no houses, but lived on the mountains;
they ate no bread, flesh, or any cooked or pre-
pared food ; they drank no wine ; they wor-
shipped God in the open air, according to the
rites of the Church, in psalms and hymns ; and
when the hour of feeding came, like beasts at

(?ioic ti9va9TfipioiC' Valesius, in his Be this, however, as it may, the

note on this passage, tells us that foregoing passage proves that there

Barses was bisnop of Edessa, under was nothing strange or uncommon

which title St. Basil addressed two in this kind of consecration, as a sort

epistles to him. But even if St. of honorary degree, rtfiij^ ilrunp, in .

Basil's correspondent was the same the time of Sozomen.

Barses, which is not certain, he may * Samf kind. "Ov rpoxov Kcti Aa-

have been at first consecrated a Zapot; & Sn^toGnc.

bishop without a see, as Sozomen ' Sozomen, lib. vi., c. 33. Tovrovc

says, and afterwards made bishop of it xai booKovQ dirtKoXovvy fvaync

Edessa, and so Valesius suggests. r/7c roiaiV/;; ^iXoao^iof apKayrtc^

wno^J not deemed irregular. 47

pasture, each taking a sickle, they spread them-
selves over the mountains, eating whatever herbs
they could find. ' Such,' says our author, * was
the nature of their philosophy ;'^ and yet this
sin|;ular society had their peculiar bishop.

23. The case of bishops without sees, conse- MWonary
crated as missionaries to the heathen, need not witbwt
be here mentioned ; for that is a custom which *^
still exists, and has never been deemed irregular.
Thus St. Swidbcrt, one of the twelve mis-
sionaries who accompanied St. Willibrord to
Friesland a.d. 690, was a bishop without a see.*^
And the case was the same with St. Winfrid
(a.d. 715), better known by his foreign name of
Boniface.^ St. Amand, as his prose biographer
informs us, was consecrated a bishop (without a
see) for the office of preaching, according to the
custom of the timc,'^ that is to say, of the seventh
century ; and Milo^, the author of his Metrical
Life, expresses this still more explicitly : —

* Ncc sedem propriam suscepit pondficalem,
Scd velud Paulus populus aggressit Eoos,
Sic iste occiduas partes transmissus adivit,
Gendbus et sparsis sparsit pia verba saluds.'

On the whole, it is impossible to doubt that
bishops without sees existed both in the east and
in the west in very early times, and were not

' FkiiMfky. fiat oi /iiy i^t i^- ^ Time. * Inofficium prardicandi

'*«**^— ■». Srxcm. ihiJ. ordinatur episcopus, sicut mos illius

^ Srr. • Nulli »cdi addictus/ tcmporis exigcbat/— fV/. ^. yf/»Mii*ij,

M«Wfew, jImhoJ. O. S. B., lib. xix., p^ PM. Harmeng., c. li., n. 20.

t i4, torn, ii., p. 31. (Bolland. /Ictt. SS. ad 6 ?eh,^ p.

* Bmij4ue. UnJ,, lib. rx., n. 56, 861, D.)

? it. ^Milo. IbU,, p. g7«» D.

48 The Monastic Bishops [iktiod.'

deemed uncanonical or irregular. Ecclesiastical
writers have been unwilling to acknowledge this,
and have endeavoured as much as possible to
conceal the fact. But further research, especially ;
among the unpublished records of Christian 1
-antiquity, would doubtless prove the existence of 1
bishops without diocesan jurisdiction, perhaps
from the very beginning of Christianity, to an .
extent much greater than is generally supposed.
In Ireland this custom continued and prevailed
to a later period than elsewhere. For Ireland
was never included* within the bounds of the
Roman empire, and consequently did not receive
the decrees of the eastern and western Councils
summoned under the authority of the emperors,
in which bishops without sees were discouraged
or prohibited, and the metropolitical and diocesari
jurisdiction finally established.

These considerations, when impartially rc^
viewed, go far to explain the seeming irregu-
larities of which the early church in Ireland was
accused, and which, no doubt, were real irregu-
larities, when judged by the standard to which
ecclesiastics living in and since the twelfth cen-
tury have been accustomed to appeal.
Monastic 2 A,. Thcrc are traces also in several places out

bishops ■ *

^Included, The ancient Romans to the King of England. See O^Cal-

never invaded Ireland. The Chris- laghan's Macari^ ExcidiuM (edited

tian Emperors scarcely knew of its for the Irish Archxoloeicai Society,)

existence. Pope Adrian, in the 12th note 62, p. 242, sq. William of New-

century, first claimed ownership,on bury (quoted by the Abb€ Mac

the authority of the pretended do- Geoghegan, Hist, de tlrlande^ tom.

nationofConstantine, because it was i., p. 440), says of Ireland ' Nun-

an island^ and gave Ireland as a bribe quam externa? subjacuit ditioni.*

D.]

not peculiar to Ireland.

49

reland of the existence of monastic bishops
ilar to those whom Bede regarded as peculiar
he Scotic Church, living in the monasteries,
restrained in the exercise of their episcopal
rtions by their vow of obedience to their
it. •

1 the synod of Hereford, held under Arch-
op Theodore in 6y^y the canons of which
preserved by Bede* himself, it is enacted * that
ops who were monks should not go about from
c to place, or from monastery to monastery,
:ss sent by their abbat ; but should continue
he same obedience which they had promised
heir conversion/

n some respects, no doubt, these bishops were
a different position from the old monastic

living under
the nile of
an abbati in
England,
and on the
continent.

The Synod
of Hereford,

The monk-
bishop
of the

iJ/. Hist. Eccl.f lib. iv. c. 5.
piH-vjpt monachi non migrent
o ad locum, hoc est, dc mo-
)o a<i monxsterium, nisi per
otoocm proprii abbatis ; sed in
rrmancAnt obedicntia, quam
cr «*ue conversionis promise-

Thi* i* the reading of Spel-
Cantf/., trim. i. p. 1 53 i and of
>uin, CoicriV., tum. iii. 1016.
iijrh and other editors of Bede,
many MSS., read * Ut ipsi
hi non migrent,' 8cc. This
jT, h*/wever, although modem
'%cT\ic» have led to its very
d adoption, sctnn to destroy
E>o«c forre and meaning of the
. Why *r/i/ monachi* ? Smith,

ao(e on this passage, says
\ foit hie EJitorum ignorantia

vcl oscitantia? qui legerunt
V, aode ab^irdissimam dederint
t% controversiam, ac si in Mac
err testa, «icut in Hiiense tradi-
^ncopi abbatibus obedientiam
BC* But why is it so very ab-

surd to suppose that the discipline
which existed at Hi might also nave
been found elsewhere? Is it not
more absurd to suppose a formal
canon made to prohibit 'monks
themselves* from migrating to other
monasteries, without the leave of their
abbats, and enacting that they must
continue in the same obedience which
they had promised when thev be-
came monks ? But read * episcopi
monachi * and this is explained.
Nothing could be more natural
than that a monk who had been
raised to the episcopal order should
believe himself thereby relieved from
monastic obedience, and at liberty,
in his episcopal character, to visit
other monasteries without the leave
of his abbat. The above remark
of Dr. Smith is a curious instance
of the prejudice which has led learned
men to ignore, if not to suppress,
the various allusions to the monastic
bishop to be met with in antient
documents.

5o Anglo-Saxon Monastic Bishops. [int

Anglo- bishops of the Irish Church, because the mon

Saxons not . * i • i i i i t

exactly teries to which they belonged were, in m<
thTmonL- places, under the jurisdiction of diocesan bisho
ofircUn^d. But the vcry canon we have quoted proves t
existence of bishops, who were also monks, a
the necessity that was felt for a stringeut ena<
ment to confine them within their monastcri
to check the possibility of their interfering wi
the diocesan bishops, and to bind them to co
tinue under the same , strict obedience to th
abbats which they had promised when they to
upon them the monastic vows.

Such bishops may probably have felt that t
obligations of their episcopacy required the
to visit other places in the exercise of thi
peculiar functions, and so loosened the tie
obedience to their monastic superior ; but t
object of the Church at that time evidently v
to strengthen the diocesan jurisdiction of t
secular bishops. It was therefore enacted tl"
the monk-bishop should return to his monas
obedience, confine himself to his monastery, a
abandon all attempts to exercise his episco]
functions, except so far as he was commanded
permitted to do so by his abbat and the bish
of the diocese. The monk-bishop of the Ang
Saxon monasteries was not there ex officio. \
was not chosen as in the Scotic or Irish mon
tcrics, to minister as a bishop to the inmates
the house. His services, in fact, were not need
because there existed a regular diocesan c
scopacy outside and around the monastery. ]

>.] Monastic Bishops on the Continent 5 1

cither a bishop, who had for some reason
deposed from his see, or who had volun-
\; abandoned the duties of his episcopal office
he sake of ascetic retirement and devotion,
ar, then, the cases are not strictly parallel ;
the canon of Hereford is evidence only of
Icsire of the Latin party, under the guidance
'hcodorus of Canterbury, to check all ten-
y to assimilation with the Scotic usages.
;. But on the continent of Europe we find Themonat-
: remarkable cases more nearly parallel with on the^^n-
fish custom, and indicating the existence of eCfo^!
nticnt discipline which continued in full
in Ireland long after it had been suppressed
here.

he abbey of St. Denis near Paris appears to The abbey
preserved the custom of having a bishop of \tzx^J^^
An from a very early period,
he following anecdote occurs in a curious
\ ' On the virtues and miracles of Macarius
Vrcopagite, Dionysius, and his companions,'
en by a monk of St. Denis, whose name is
lown, but who appears to have flourished in
eign of Charles the Bald ; the middle of the
I centur). ' About the same time,'^ says

u-r. • Dtr virtutihus ct mi- aggressus cssct, furcillx qua id sata-

Macarii Arcopagitae, Dio- gcbat sinistra ejus manus adharsit

■ torumque ejus,' published tarn validc, ut nullus digitorum sal-

"lun. Acta SS. Or J. S. Bene- tern emovcri aliquo posset conamine.

m. IT. p. 3 1 J , jq. Cerneres miserum opus quod ccrperat

•^. * t/^Kicm tere tempore di>simularc avidius velle, idque divi-

incoii viti, qui heatorum nam non sinerc ultionem. Postera

.m vcr*<nitiMnc magnifitc in- die acce>sit ad Heribertum Epis-

:aSetur, jxM hfram nonam copum (moris quippe ei fuit ecclesix

o dici annonam cxcuicre au- aliquamdiu cpiscopos habere) ; eique

Indc purpare earn cum peccata sua confessus e>t. Jubet

52 The Monastic Bishops [}

this writer, meaning the time of King Pepin
(who died in 768), * a certain inhabitant of the
town which was held in such great vcneratioQ
on account of the blessed martyrs, was so irrcv*
erent as to shake out his corn after the ninth
hour of the Lord's day. And afterwards when
he attempted to cleanse it, his left hand stuck SD
strongly to the fork with which he endeavouitd
to do so, that he was unable, do what he wouldi
to extricate his fingers. The next day he wcat
to Bishop Heribert (for it was the custom of that
church for some time to have bishops) and con-
fessed his sins to him.' The story goes on to
that the bishop summoned the brethren, to prq
for the man in the crypt of St. Denis, and hii
hand was set free by the intercession of the saint
The neighbours were seized with great fear,
many were deterred from attempting simili^
labours on the Lord's day.

In this story it is incidentally stated, that il
was for some time {aliquamdiu) the custom i
the Church of St. Denis to have bishops of i
own ; and the language seems also to imply thi
this custom had ceased* to exist at the tinK
when this author wrote, for otherwise he wouli

Epi^copusfurcillamutrinqueprzcidi, note on the parage : * Hinc

evocati^juc fratribusut procoDomi- nonnullis monAsteriis i jure

num prciarrntur obtinet . Sic una muni exeniti» prupriox fiitsBR

cryptam Bcati Dionysii ingredicntc%, copoii.* And in another place

prti c<j cum fratrc^ devote orartnt, say*, * Ex his porro anonymi vei

sancttirum merit i> spaisis digitis re- intelligimu^, jam i(>MUs tempore

Miluta manu^ amin^um plene ret'ipit viiv»e morem ilium habendi epucoB

offuium.' —MahiUon, ihiJ. p. 313. loci proprium, ut verba luctoro

* HaJ ceaseJ. Thi^ remark in pemienti con^picuum fiet.' Fr^(^

made by Mabillon, who \a,y\ in hi» tm tom. iii. p. 14.

] of the Abbey of St. Denis. 53

perhaps have used the past tense * moris
c ci fuit ecclesiae aliquamdiu episcopos
c.

t the abbey appears to have had a bishop of
^n from a very early period, if not from its
lal foundation. Pope Stephen, in 757, the
)f his death, gave a charter to the celebrated
t St. Fulrad, sanctioning the election of a
p by the abbat or brethren of St. Denis,
Icfining the bishop's duty to be to take the
ral care of all religious houses founded
t. Fulrad, in connection with the parent
stery of St. Denis, and to preach and
therein : exempting him from the in-
cncc of any diocesan bishops, and placing
under the immediate jurisdiction of the

Sec.
lis charter has been published in a mutilated

in the editions of the Councils, omitting
lat related to the monastic bishop, a fact
1 seems to shew a desire of suppressing^ or
ng out of view the supposed irregularity
)i>hop without a diocese, who was subject
c abbat of his monastery. But Mabillon
1 the original in the archives of St. Denis,

^r//jirjf. So Mabillon plainly scopus ibidem laudatas. Vcnim hac

> : * Hxf rlausula dc pro- dc re disputcnt alii quantum lubet ;

Ktip<>,* (he 'ay*,) * qux in historica facta notarc nobis incum-

•Dr jijorum libris deotjinveni- bit, non jus eorum asscrere/ — An-

rctcrrimi^ wripiis cxemplari- nal. BmeJ., lib. xxiii. n. 26. But it

anuliis halxique aiictorita- i^ only fair to the editors of the

.ibn» primo mirarulorum S. Councils to say, that the mutilation

I, ubt icgitur morem ejus ali- apj>ears to have taken place in the

i fui%«« ecrle^iar episcopum MSS. from which they copied.
qual» fuit Heribertu*! epi-

54 I'be Monastic Bishops [

and has printed it in full in his life c
Fulrad.'

The charter contains internal evidence c
antiquity of the custom of a special mo
bishop in this monastery. It recites^ that
deric or Landri, Bishop of Paris, with the i
bation of his canons and suffragans, and j
request of Clovis II., son of Dagobert, hac
sented to exempt from his own jurisdictio
that of his successors the abbey of St. Deni
all the clergy of whatsoever order who
within its precincts. St. Landri (for h<
afterwards regarded as a saint) became Bisl
Paris about a.d. 650 and Clovis died in
Therefore the abbey must have had its mc
bishop a full century before the charter of
Stephen, and evidently also long before t
emption granted by St. Landri.
Charter of Aud this appcars further from a subse
A.D/78V' charter^ of Pope Hadrian I., dated a.d. 7
which he confirms the privilege conceded
predecessor Stephen, in these words : * \^

> St, Fulrad, Acta SS. O. S. B., ababbate vel afratribusin it

torn. iv. p. 305. vestro electus, et a fratribi

' Recites. * Et quoniam ad prcces episcopis de ilia rcgionc coi

Chludovii, filii Dagoberti regis, ilia vestra monasteria a vc

dominus Landericus Parisiacae urbis cata provideat, et vice nos

episcopus, a sua et omnium succes- nis ubi et ubi fiierint regat

sorum potestate deinceps, cum con- dicationi tarn in ipso vestr

silio suorum canonicorum ct fratnim terio quam in sibi subj

suorum co-episcoponim regionis il- deserviat.* — Acta SS. O. S.

lius, coenobium vestrum et omnes ad ' Charter. This letter is

eum scrvientes clericos quorumcum- to Maginarius, Abbat of J

que ordinum in procinctu vestri mon- the immediate successor of S

asterii absolvit ; nos etiam idem, et After reciting the former gra

habere vobis episcopum per singulare Stephen, it proceeds : * Q

privilegium conccdimus, qui de vobis auctoritate bcati Petri Ap

iNTROD.] of the Abbey of St. Denis. 55

fore relying on the authority of the blessed Peter,
Prince of the Apostles, we enact and declare in
the aforesaid venerable monastery, that it be
altogether lawful to have a bishop there, as from
antient times and up to this present there hath
been ; by whose preaching the people, who come
daily with devout intentions from various coun-
tries to the sacred precincts of the monastery of
the said martyr of Christ, may be rendered
worthy to receive the salvation of their souls.'

These words plainly declare that the privilege
of electing a bishop^ of their own was not for the
first time conferred upon the abbat and monks
of St. Denis by Pope Stephen, but must have
existed long before. The words * from antient
times and up to this present,' C^priscis temporibus
^t usque hactenusyj could scarcely have been used
in reference to the short period which had
elapsed since the date of Pope Stephen's death.

Here, then, in the great French abbey of St.
Denis we find an exact parallel with the Irish
or Scotic usage, which so greatly startled the

pnncipis fulti, in jam dicto vene- bishops of St. Denis, besides Heri-

^bili monasterio statuentes promul- bert, the bishop mentioned by the

pTius, ut penitus liceat ibidem authorof the tract on the miracles of

•^bere episcopum, sicut a priscis the abbey, viz. : Turnoaldy who is

temporibus, et usque hactenus fuit j styled * bishop and warden of the

P^[ cujus praedicationem populus, church of St. Denis* (episcopus et

^ui a diversis regionibus devota custos basilicae S. Dionysii), in a

"itnte quotidie ad sancta ejusdem charter of King Chilperic (a.d.

"^rtyris Christi monasterii limina 716 — 720): and Gotofredus episco-

'^onvcnerit, remedium consequi mer- pus, whose name occurs in a list of

^^ur animanim.' Hardouin, Concil. the monks of St. Denis, published

J^^-, 2021 D. This document has by D^ Achery (SpiciJ. ///., p. 333,

"^n ^iven without mutilation in fol. edit.), at the end of a letter of

^e collettion.s of Councils. agreement between the abbeys of S.

* Bishop. Mabillon has found the Denis and of Rheims in 838. Acta

Daincs of two of these monastic SS, O, S, B., torn. iv. p. 306.

5^ Monastic Bishops [iimioD.

venerable Bede : the only difference being this,
that the antient custom of a bishop, resident
in the monastery, was kept up at St. Denis,
after the establishment of an external diocesan
episcopacy, which rendered it necessary to pro-
cure an express recognition from the Pope, in
order to protect the monastic bishop from the
interference and jealousy of the diocesan and his
suffragans; and also, no doubt, to enable the
Court of Rome without difficulty to suppress
the monastic bishop whenever it was found con-
venient to do so.
The Abbey ^6. Nor was this a solitary instance. The
tin,atTour8. samc custom existed m the celebrated monastery
of St. Martin, at Tours ; and a confirmation^ of
the privilege was obtained from Pope Hadrian L,
expressed in nearly the same words as those
already quoted from the charter granted by the
same pontiff to the abbey of St. Denis. The
usage was retained longer at St. Martin's than ^^
St. Denis. At St. Martin's the jealousy of tb^
diocesan bishops, and especially the refusal o^
the canons to receive with proper respect tl^-^
Papal legates, caused Pope Urban 11.^ to aboli^^^

* Confirmation, This document nimirum ad pontificatum usque ITJ^

is printed by Papirius Masson, in bani II., qui Turonos ad limina ^^

his book De Pontificibus Romanise Martini profectus, sublato propr^^

and more correctly by Rad. Mons- episcopo,Martinianam bajulicam ju£^

niere, in his Defensio jurium eccU- sit Romano specialiter adh^erere pimi^

sio' S, Martinif cap. ii., quoted by Jicif anno Dominica' IncamatitmK ^

Mabillon, Pref. ad torn. lii. Acta MXCH., ad componendas scilicet

SS. O. S, B.f p. xiii. querelas episcoporum Gallicanorum^

' Urban IL * Viguit aliquamdiu prxcipue vero Legatorum ccclesias^

in utroque monasteno usus proprio- Komanx, quos Martiniani canone«

rum episcoporum ; diutius quidem debito cum honorc susciperc recu-

in Martiniano quam in Dionysiano, sabant.' — MabiJion, ih'id, Thedocu-

] at Tours and Laubes. 57

the monastic bishop, in the year 1096, and to
annex the Church of St. Martin specially to the
Roman Pontiff. In the abbey of St. Denis, as
wc have seen, the custom appears to have been
abandoned in the beginning of the ninth^ cen-
turj'.

As in Ireland, the bishop was sometimes also Theabut
abbat. This was the case with Wicterbus, Bishop Twdiopr
and Abbat of St. Martin's of Tours, who died^
A.D. 756. At his death, however, the two offices
were divided. Andegarius, or Audcgarius^ suc-
ceeded him as bishop, and Wlfard, or Gulfard,
as abbat.

27. The monastery of Lobes, or Laubes, in Bel- The abbey
pum, seems also to have been one of those in ^
which the monastic bishop and abbat-bishop
existed for some time. Ursmar, its first abbat,
who died a.d. 713, was a bishop ; as also Theodul-
ftis, fourth abbat ; Franco, twelfth abbat ; and
Stephen, thirteenth abbat. It is not quite cer-
tain that these last were strictly confined to the

\ art giTen by Monsnicre ; loc. Nicctius, Patcmus ; to whom Ma-

•if., cap. in. ; and $ce the EpLstola billon adds, Wicterbus and Andega-

*/ CLrrmm Tmromeruem, Hardouin, rius; Oxr/. ix. Benignus, Desiderius,

i9mnL, torn. r't. 1641, in which Wichardus ; Cent. x. Maximus,

tbcwi.-nK quoted by Mabillon occur : Julianus. Besides Philippus and

* Draique quoniam in quibusdam Lucianus, whose date is uncertain. —

««z crclruz privilegiis proprium eis MabiUon^ ibid, p. 14.

kibrrt epticopum concessum est, ejus ' Died, Annal. Masciaccns. op,

vrr o» Romano eos sancimus spe- Labb^um Bibl. No*v^. torn, ii., p.

caLter adhxrere Pontifici, et gra- 736, quoted by Mabillon, Annal.

v^iorrscammcausasexejuspendereju- Benedict, lib. xxiii. n. 23.

ioo.' And the same words nearly are ' Judegariuj. He is said to have

?tpcatcd in tlie next epistle, if./ CViAOJV- been of English descent, his father,

i^uS. Mmrtim TmnnenjiifUb.t 1641. Betto, having been a merchant at

* Aotfi. Scraborcp. 51. Mons- Marseille^. He died 15 Kal. Feb.

t«re has found the names of ten 790. — Annal. Masciascens. ap. luib-

»^ipi of the monastery of St. h^um^ loc. df., and Mabillon, Acta

Uirtm i ¥11. Ctmi. viii. Amaraldus, SS, O. S. B., Pr^f, ad torn. iii. p. 14.

58 The Monastic Bishops [introd.

monastery. But the case of Ursmar seems to
have been peculiar, from the difficulty it occa-
sioned after a lapse of nearly 300 years to one of
his successors, Fulcuin, nineteenth abbat, by
whom a history of the abbey^ was compiled
This writer tells us that he had often searched
into the question how Ursmar came to be a
bishop. The fact itself was attested by all the
antient records of the abbey, but without any
mention of the place or time of his consecratioa,
nor by whom he was consecrated ; and the older
monks gave different explanations^ of the circum^
stance : some saying that Ursmar was ordained
a bishop that he might preach with more effect
to the neighbouring barbarians ; and others that
it belonged to the dignity of the place, that is of
the abbey itself, as being of royal foundation^
and in the neighbourhood of the royal palac^>
that it should be committed only to the char^^
of a bishop, and accordingly (our author sayi^)
many of Ursmar's successors were of episcop^
dignity.

This latter opinion seems to have been nearer^
the truth, although not exactly true. Ermir^

* Abbey. The work of Fulcuin quod factum deS. A mandolcgimu^^

(ob. 99o),is entitled *Gestaabbatum Quibusdam dignitatem hanc lor^

Lobicnsium,* and is published by tribuentibus $ quod videlicet loci^

D'Achery, Spicil.y torn. ii. p. 730. Regius, Regia muni ficentiaconstnir '

' Explanations. Fulcuin, Gestt. c. tus, Regio, ut dictum est, paUtic^

3 ('Z)'/?(r/t^ry, /. f., p. 732) } * Varia contiguus, scilicet Liptinis, nuU-^

de hoc e>t >cniorum nostrorum re- committerctur, nisi prius ordinatu^

latio, diccntibus quibusdam, quod esset cpiscopus ; quam digrnitatem

pra-dicandi gratia, ut comnetebat et in plensque successorum ejus

tunc rudimentis novtilx fitlci, ad durasse, in subsequcntibus dicemus.'

compescendos superfluos ritus gentis See also Mabillon, Acta SS. O. S,

barbaricseepiscopus t'ucrit ordinatus; B., torn. iii. p. 141.

NTROD.] of the Abbey of Laubes. 59

the immediate successor of Ursmar, does not ap-
pear to have been a bishop ; but it is remarkable
that there were in Ermin's time bishops in the
monastery, who, we are expressly told, took a
part in the government of the house. * They
were,' says Fulcuin^, * co-operators or successors,
governors of the place, and co-abbats ' with Er-
min. Our author names these co-abbats ; and
it is curious that one of them was Irish, and is
placed first on the list : ' The holy Abel, a
Scot by race ; the holy Wlgis, a bishop, and the
Lord Amulguin, also a bishop.'

The fact that there was in the abbey a co- Wsh eccic-
ahhaty in high authority, who was a Scot (that nccted with
is, an Irishman), is worthy of note, as proving f^^g„
that the Irish Church was not deemed irre- ^^^^^
gular at that time in the monasteries of Europe,
and that the Scots were not then rejected or
excommunicated in consequence of any peculiar
national usages. Whether Abel, the Scot, as he
IS afterwards^ called by our author, was a bishop
at the time when he was in office under Ermin,

* Fulcuin. Gestt. Abb. Lobiens., which he speaks, whether it meant

^- S(D'Ac/teryy ib.jp.y'^i) : * Ha- that when Ermin was absent on

^^it etiam [Erminus] et co-ope- spiritual duties, the three whom he

'Stores sive successores ejusdem loci names took the office of abbat in

^^^rnatores, et co-abbates, sanctum succession, or exercised it in con-

iitique Abel, Scottum genere, et junction. A knowledge of the Irish

^nctum Wlgisum episcopum, et customs would have explained at once

^ominum Amulguinum aeque epis- the position of these bishops,
^pum } qui utrum sibi vicissim sue- * After<iAjards, Fulcum, c. 7 i

fcsserint,an sanctoErminospirituali- * Nos coUatis undecunque numeris,

^us occupato rebus locum in com- hunceundcm Abel et nostrum fuisse,

mune tractaverint, nihil certi reliquit et Scottum, et episcopum, facile ra-

^tiquitas.' From these words it is tione probavimus.' Cf. Mabil-

widcnt that our author was doubtful Ion, Acta SS. O, S. 5., tom. iii.

as to the nature of the co-abbacy of p. 531 Jy.

6o The Monastic Bishops [iktrod.

in the monastery, is not certain ; but Fulciiin
tells us that he was afterwards bishop of Rheims,
where he remained, however, only for a short
time, and then returned to monastic life.
saitzburgh. ^8. The city of Saltzburgh, antiently called
Juvavia^, appears to have also had some connec*
tion with Irish ecclesiastics in the eighth century-
Its great Benedictine monastery, dedicated to S^-
Peter, was founded by St. Rudbert, or Rupert ^»
who died 718. With this monastery Rudbc^^
connected an episcopal see, of which he w^t^
himself the first bishop, having been, before h.^
devoted himself to missionary labour, bishop o^
Worms. It does not appear certain that he wa^
a monk ; but for many years after his death th^C
abbat of his monastery was either bishop, or th^
superior of the bishop, after the Irish custom ^
This appears from the list of the successors to St-^
Rudbert, which is annexed to the most antienC^
form of his life, published by Canisius, and re-^
printed by Mabillon.^ In this list, although they
are all called ' successors of St. Rudbert,' yet
three of them are termed abbats only, and not
bishops. The list^ is as follows : —

' Ju*va*via. So called from the spelling as that now so common

river Juvar or Uvar ; the name of under the form of Robert,
the river was afterwards changed to ' Mabillon. Canisius, Antiq. Lect,^

Saltz or Saltxa, from which the town torn. ii. Mabillon, Acta SS, O, S.

takes its present name. — Mabillon, B., tom. iii. p. 325. Canisius (torn.

Acta SS, O. S. B.y tom. iii. p. 328, vi.) has edited three other Lives,

n. 9. and a fifth is printed by the Bol-

^ Rupert. He is also called Hord- landists at the 27th of March. These

hert, Ruodbert, Rodhert, &c. There are all founded upon that first-men-

is scarcely any medieval name which tioned.
occurs imder so many varieties of * Zif/. Mabillon, il r., p. 331,

] of the Abbey of Saltzburgb. 6 1

1. Vicalif) bishop, immediate successor of St. Rudbert.

2. Anzcdogus, abbat.

3. Savolus, abbat.
4« Ezzius, abbat.

5. Flobargisus, bishop.

6. Joamics, bishop.

7. Virgilius, abbat, and afterwards Bishop of Saltzburgh.

Mabillon* was of opinion that the three names
set down in this list as abbats only, ought not to be
counted among the successors of St. Rudbert, and
he cites an antient poetical account of the bishops y
by an author of the ninth or beginning of the
tenth century, in which these names are omitted.
MablUon's difficulty was occasioned by his hav-
ing overlooked the fact, that the monastic usages,
afterwards deemed peculiar to Ireland, were at
that time common enough in several European
monasteries. Anzologus, Savolus, and Ezzius
were abbats only, and not bishops ; but never-
theless, if Irish customs were observed in the
monastery, they would have been also reckoned
as successors of St. Rudbert ; the abbat was St.
Rudbcrt's successor whether he was also a bishop
or not ; and the bishops who were not abbats
were, in some degree at least, subject to the
jurisdiction of the abbat. This supposition will
account for their introduction into the list of
St. Rudbcrt's successors, and will account also
for the omission of their names by the author of
the poetical catalogue of the bishops, whose object
did not require him to notice those successors of
Sl Rudbert who were abbats only.

* MmbiOem. Annal. Ord. S. Bened., torn, rL p. 51.

6z Irish Ecclesiastics C»nt

Irish de- ^9- It is also worthy of notice (as shew

quTnriy*" that there was then no such great discrepanc}

fore?^** ^^^ ^^^ usages in question between the Irish j

ecclesiastics, continental monasteries), that the foreign autl

of monastic biographies seem anxious rather t]

otherwise to claim an Irish descent for tl

heroes, and often make that claim where th

are no real grounds for it.

For example, in the case before us, one of
biographies of St. Rudbert, published by Ct
sius^ exprjessly asserts that saint to have b
' of the royal family of the Franks, and of
dukes of Scotiuy quoting for this statement
' antient history* which Mabillon supposes to
the antient Life by him reprinted. But in t
Life no mention of the dukes of Scotia is to
found, and consequently Mabillon rejects
words as an interpolation.^ It is quite as p
bable, however, that they may have been omit
by some transcribers of the antient Life, puzz
to understand how Rudbert could have b
sprung both from the royal family of France \
also from the chieftains of Ireland ; and this
indeed a statement not very easily explained.

Our author, however, goes on to say t
Rudbert was baptized in Ireland hy St. Patr
and received there his ecclesiastical educatic
after which, with his brother Trudbert and

' Canisiiu. Ant. Lectt., torn. vi. sius, by Colgan, Actt. SS, Hibr

p. 1107, c. i. * Ex regali prosapia p. 756.

Francorum, ducumque Scotia? origi- ^ Interpolation. Acta SS. O. J

nem duxisse antiqua tradit historia/ ubi supra^ p. 326.
This Life is also printed, from Cani-

iNTioD.] not accused of Irregularity. 6^

sister or niece Erentrudis, or Erndruda^ he went
abroad and devoted himself to the conversion of
the heathen. But this part of the story is mani-
festly untenable ; for the year 497 is the latest
date which can be assigned to the death of St.
Patrick ; whereas St. Rudbert (according to
Mabillon) lived to 718. He would, therefore,
have been more than two hundred years old at
the time of his death ^, if he had been baptized
in Ireland by St. Patrick. Still this very legend,
incredible as it is, could scarcely have been in-
vented, if the connection with Ireland^ which
it attributes to St. Rudbert, had not been re-
garded as adding, rather than otherwise, to his
saintly reputation.

Vitalis, the immediate successor of Rudbert,
is also said to have been an Irishman*; but it is
not to our present purpose to discuss the question
whether he was or not. It is enough to remark

^ Emdruda. These names are porum Salisbergensium,' Salisb.f

'^ot Irish, although Rudbert, as Col- 1692, fol., lib. i. c. ii., where he

^ suggests, may possibly be a discusses the question of the place

^^ntinental form of the Irish Rob- of St. Rudbert's birth, and decides

''irtach or Ropartach, the name against Ireland with some hesitation 5

'^^^•ch is now Rafferty and Robert. for he adds, * Illud facile crediderim,

^^^f' SS. Hib., p. 761, note 2. in majoribus Ruperti maritatam

' Death. Colgan (ibid.y note 6) esse regum Francorum, ducumque

^^fmpts to solve this difficulty by Scotiae, id est Hibemiae, nobilitatem j

f^gge^ting that the St. Patrick here ipsum proinde tarn ex regali pro-

intcnded, was not the great St Pa- sapia Francorum, quam ducali Hi-

^ck, but a Patrick junior, nephew bemorum originem duxisse, ut anti-

0^ the Apostle, who is said to have qua tradit historia,' p. 80. Colgan,

^•ttcn a life of his uncle. But this in his account of St. Alto (9 Feb.),

If mere trifling. — See Lanigan, vol. mentions several other Irishmen, or

"'•) p. 163, and Andr. Brunneri, reputed Irishmen, who were con-

^^nal. Boiorum, lib. v. c. i (Colgan nected with the monasteries of Ba-

'^•> p. 764). varia, at the same period. — Actt, SS.,

* Ireland. See also Dom Joseph pp. 301 — 2.
Mezger's*HistoriaSalisbergensis, seu "* Irishman. His life is published

^>tx Episcoporum et Archiepisco- by Canisius, Ant, Lectt.y tom. vi.

64 Virgil of Saltzhurgb.

that, however that question be decided, the
fact that an Irish descent was claimed, althou^
groundlessly, for two of their antient worthies,
clearly shews that the monks of Saltzburgh were
without any prejudices against Irish episcopacy, or
monachism, and did not regard the Irish Church
as meriting any censure for the existence of
peculiar or irregular usages,
viftfi, 30. One of the Saltzburgh abbats, Virgil, the

S^L^ last in the foregoing list, was indeed an Irishman
^^" by birth ; another proof that the Church of Ire-
land was, at that time, under no ban for irregu*
larity. His history, which illustrates our subject
in many ways, will require to be somewhat more
fully dwelt upon.

The Four Masters* in their * Annals of Ireland/
at their year 784 (which is really a.d. 789),
tell us that he had been abbat* of Achadh-bo,
now Aghaboe, in the Queen's County, and that
he died in Germany in the thirtieth year of his
episcopacy. They give him also the title of
* the Geometer,' evidently because he was one of
the earliest Christian writers by whom was pro-

and Colgan intended to have given abbat of AcKadh-bo, died in Gcr>

it at Oct. xo, but did not live to do many, in the 30th year of hit cpi*

Hi.^Actt. SS. Hih.f p. 769. All that Acopacy.* Accofding to MabiUoa,

t\ known of him has been collected he was consecrated 17 Kml. JiiB.t

by the B4illandi)»ty, in the volume 756 or 757, and died 4 Kml. Dec^

rciTntly published (1^53) at Oct. 780, not 789, as the Irish amnlft

ao. And the Question of his Irish have it. Sice Dr. 0*Conor*t arooqat

descent \s there disruvied and decided of him, in his notes to the

in the negative, p. 931, c I believe of Ul^er. — Rfr, HiS, Strati.,

rightly. iv. p. 172/^.

» fiMrr Matters. * Fergel am ge^- • Ahhat, The Ami, Uk. give bii

meter abb Achaiih bco Jecc, sam obit at 788 (=789) as ' Fcrgillt

Cerautimtte , sam 30 bliaJMaim ma abbat of Achadh-bo/ without

eaps(9poU,* * Fergel, the geometer, tioning his having emigrated to the

] a Native of Ireland. ^ 65

ded the theory of the sphericity of the earth
he existence of the antipodes, a speculation
hi very nearly acquired for its author the
ation of being a heretic* His Irish name
^ergily or FergaL

\ appears to have become abbat of St. Hisinsh
's monastery, in Saltzburg, soon after his oobdi!
l1 on the continent, and having continued
at office for two years, during which time,
re told, ^ be concealed^ bis own orders y he
:onsecrated bishop on the death of his pre-
sor John. His biographer, however, adds
he had brought with him from Ireland a
p, named Dobda, to perform episcopal fiinc-
; and we find the same statement in the
)f the successors of St. Rudbert, already
*d, namely, that he brought with him from
id ' a bishop of his own,' propriutn episcopum ^,

It, and hence Dr. Lanigan Saltzburgh, we cannot be quite cer-

////. vol. iii. pp. 202 — 206) tain that this is his pedigree : never-

$ the abbat ot Aghaboe and theless he is therein styled * Fergil

lop of Saltzburgh to have Dergaine,' which looks like an error

3 different persons, fixing the of transcription for * Fergil do

f the former at 789, and of Germaine,' or Virgil of Germanv,

rat 7 8 5, which is also the date and if this were certain, it would

I by Mabillon, Annates^ torn. settle the question.

'4. It is possible tliat the ^ Heretic. See Dr. O'Conor's

lasters may have been mis- Rerum Hibern. Scriptores, loc. at.

but whether Virgil of Saltz- ' Concealed. * Vir itaque Domini,

ad been originally abbat of dissimulata ordinatione, ferme duo-

>e or not, is unimportant to rum annorum spatiis, habuit secum

jment. The genealogies of episcopum comitantem de patria,

ts, preserved in the antient nomine Dobda, ad persolvendum

cords, give the pedigree of episcopaleofficium."' — Mabillon,^r//j

, or Virgin us, from Laogaire SS., torn. iv. p. 280. Mezger, in

Siall of the Nine Hostages), his Hist. Salisb., makes no mention

> king of Ireland in the times of Bishop Dobda, or of Virgil's

*atrick. But although the concealment of his orders,

of generations would agree ' Proprium episcopum. * Venit vir

II with the date of Virgil of quidam sapiens et bonus doctor de

66 Virgil brought with bim [nmioo.

which is the usual designation of the mo-
nastic bishop. In this latter authority the bishop
is named Dordagreus, or according to another
reading, Dohdagrecus. This is evidently the Irish
Dubb-da-criocb, a name very common ^ in Ireland
in the eighth and ninth centuries.

The words of the biographer, that Virgil for
two years concealed his orders, have been under-
stood ^ as if they signified that he had been a
bishop before he left Ireland, and wishing to
conceal that fact, brought with him another
bishop to perform episcopal duties ; but this
cannot be so. For our author, immediately
after the words referred to, goes on to say that at
the instance of the people, and by the persuasion
of the bishops of the province, he consented to
receive the episcopal unction, and was consecrated
a bishop on the 13th of June, y66 or y6y. The

Hibcm'ia iasula, nomine Virgilius, Dubda, as the life of Virgil (apwl

ad prsedictum regcm [Pippinum] in Mabillon) has it, he may have it-

Francia loco vocato Karisiaco [i.e., ceivcd the subsequent appellatioD of

Cressy^.'' .... * Qui dissimulata Dubh-da-crioch, after his emigntioa

ordinatione fcrmc duorum anno- to the continent,
rum spatio, habuit secum proprium * Understood. Ussher qaoM

cpiscopum comitantcm de patria, Hundius, in whose catalogue of the

nomine DorJagreum [al. Dobdagre- bishops of Saltzburgh, Virgil is sawl

cum] ad persolvendum episcopale to have brought with him a Gnek

officium.' — MMWoTi^ Acta SS.y torn, bishop, named Dobdan. ' Disstmu-

iii. p. 331. lata consecratione, pene duorum in-

^ Fery common. Thus the Four nonim spatio, pontificem secum

Masters give the obits of Dubh-da- habuit proprium Dobdan noniiiie

crioch, Lord of Fotharta, a.d. 733 5 Grafcum, qui i]>sum secutus crat ez

of Dubh-da-crioch, son of Dubh- patria.' This Greek bishop puakd

da-inbcr, 718; of Dubh-da-crioch, Ussher; Syllog. Ep. 16. (Works,

sonof Laidhgnen, 777 ;of Dubh-da- iv. p. 461.) But Dobdan Grccos

crioch, son of Maeltuile, abbat of is an evident corruption of Dubh-da-

Cill-achaidh, 811. The name sig- crioch.

nifies * Dubh of the two countries,' ' Consecrated. * Postea ad instin-

and may have been given to Virgil's tiam populi, necnon assidua coepi«co-

bishop from his havingsettled abroad. porum suorum exhortatione inductus.

If his original name was Dobda, or ab ipsis unctionem episcopalem sos-

to Saltzhurgb an Irish Bishop.

67

ig, therefore, most probably is that he con-
his own orders, namely, his priesthood' ;
for this purpose he brought with him from
i the bishop Dobda, or Dobdagrecus, it fol-
[lat there was nothing uncommon at that
)n the continent of Europe in an abbat
; ' a bishop of his own ; ' nor any pre-
at Saltzburg against an Irish monastic

Even in Italy, we find examples of a Monastic
1 similar to that which prevailed in Ire- ject to thdr
The bishop of Aquino was subject, we itaiyandin
d, to the abbat of Cassino.^ And again, in
ist, in the monastery of Mount Sinai, as
im from the chronicle of Ademar ^, monk

ascnsit, ordlnatusque est a
ibus praesulibus anno na-
)omini, 766 [al. 767] 17
[i.'__ Mabillon. Acta SS.

p. 280. It will be seen
dius, as quoted by Ussher
, entirely misrepresents this

making Virgil to have

his consecration after he
me bishop of Saltzburgh ;
bsurd. The original author
«imulata ordinatione," not
7«^, as Hundius has it.
nderstands the words to
lat he remained for two
mut consecration, after his
tn to the see of Saltzburgh,
lis Irish bishop Dobda to

ills episcopal functions
Us., Li'vr. xliv. c 3) ; but
carcely be reconciled with
nent of the original his-

thood. So Pope Zachary
hint, in his letter to Boni-
re he calls him * Virgilius
nussi dicatur presbyter." —

Ussher, Sylloge^ Ep, xvii. (Works,
vol. iv. p. 463.)

* Cassino. The Benedictines of St.
Maur, in their Nowveau Tr/ute de
Diplomatique y torn. v. p. 445, have
quoted the following, from Gattola,
ad Hist, Cassinens. accession, p. 9 1 (a
work which I have not seen) : * Neque
mirum videri debet Aquinensem epis-
copum subditum Abbati Cassinensi
fuisse, cum venerabilis Beda sit autor
in Histor. Anglicana, lib. 3, cap. 4,
omnes Hibemix et Scotiae episcopos
subditos abbati 8. Columba in in-
sula Hyensi fuisse, dum ait, &c.*
The author then quotes from Bede
the passage already cited, p. 10, n. 2.
where, however, it is not said that
all the bishops of Ireland and Scot-
land were subject to the abbat of
Hi ; but only those of the pro*vince
connected with the monastery.

' Ademar. His chron. is pub-
lished by Labbe, Biblioth. nonja,
tom. ii. p. 175, quoted by Mabillon,
AnnaL Ben.y lib. xxiii. n. 23, p. 179.

dicdne mo-
nasteries.

68 The Monastic Bishops

of Angoul^me, there were 500 monks ;
eleventh century hving under the gover
of an abbat, and having their own b
' habentes ibidem proprium episcopum.'

But it is needless to prolong this disc
The existence of monastic bishops in
places is generally acknowledged^ ; and '
is peculiar only in having retained the i
long after it had been suppressed in other ]
Christendom.
Themonas- 3^- O^^ of Ireland the monastic-bish
t^^nt^^ most generally found in the Benedictir
nasteries. In the preface to the first volume
Thesaurus novus Anecdotorunty of Martei
Durand, several monasteries of the On
mentioned in which the abbats were also \
Some of these have been already noticed,
learned authors of the Preface have defen«

* AckntTMledged. At the Synod eighth century], ou plu*

of Attigni, in 765, five monastic ques ordinaires d'ltalie,

bishops were present, viz : Willi- et d'Ecosse etoient sous la

harius, episcopus de monasterio S. des Abbes de quelques

Mauricii } Theodulfus, episcopus-de celebres/ In addition tc

monasterio Laubias ; Hippolytus, already mentioned, the

episcopus de monasterio Logendi [seu also had bishops of theii

Eug^ndi] ; Jacob, episcopus de mon- Scotish or Irish abbey of

asterio Gamundias ; Willibaldus, Hohenove, in Alsace j A4

episcopus de monasterio Achistadi. — nal.^ tom. ii. p. 59. Th

See Mabillon,y^««^.,tom. ii. pp. 206 Morbach, in Alsace 5 ibu

— 207. Fleury, Hut. EccUs., liv. xliv. 703. Eichstadt, in Bava

c. 21, and Noiiv. Traite de D'tplom,^ astery of Irish foundati*

ubi stipra. This latter authority says : bishop,Willibald, has ju^

* Les Evcques des abbayes exer^oient tioned as having been pn

Icur ministcre sur toutes les depen- Synod of Attigni. Sta\

dances du monastere dont ils etoient denne, whose abbat, Aigi

les Eveaues, corrigeoint et rcfor- been four years bishop c

moient les abus avec le consente- returned to his monast

ment de TAbbe auquel ils etoient regimen cum episcopatu

soumis. Cette soumission n^a rien — Mabilion, ibid, p. 128.
de surprenant pources tems-la [the

>•] of the Benedictine Abbeys. 6g

om of a monastic bishop, as it existed in such
lasteries, by referring it to a general principle

down in the Rule of St. Benedict. The
s of St. Benedict, they say^, enables us to
ain the cause and use of this custom : the
ider ' was unwilling that the monks should

leave the monastery, deeming it prejudicial
heir souls ; and therefore, to take away all
ssity for going about to seek for holy orders
onfirmation, and lest the occasional presence
bishop in the abbey for the purpose of hold-
an ordination should disturb the quiet of the
ks, it was arranged that in most monasteries
IT the abbat or a simple monk should be a
3p.'
rom the foregoing facts and instances, there-

we must conclude that the non-diocesan

monastic bishops were not peculiar to
nd, nor at first deemed in any way irre-
:; but it is evident that they gradually
>peared as diocesan and metropolitical juris-
on gained strength. The councils^ are full

y say. ' Jam vero si quis hujus in monasteriis, sive abbatem, sive

udinis causam rescire voluerit, simplicem monachum habere volue-

lam repetendam esse existi- runt.' — Martene ct Dumnd, TAes,

ex regula 8. Benedicti, quae No<vus Anecd.y torn. i. Praf,

mnino fert monachos foris * Councils, The second can. of

rrium prodire, cap. 66, quia the first general council of Con-

omnino non expedtt animabus stantinople, although rigidly prohi-

igiturutjunioribusprxsertim biting all bishops from exercising

8 omnis discurrenai occasio their ministry out of their own dio-

jr ad sacros suscipiendos or- ceses, admits neverthele&s that there

i requirendum Chrisma, neve was a more antient discipline, which

I episcoporum in monasteria in some places was still from neces-

ras ordmationes explcndas, sity to be tolerated. * The churches

lonachorum turbaretur, pie- of God which are among barbarous

)iscopura ad manum semper people may be governed according

7o Bishops In Ireland consecrated [umoD.

of enactments for the suppression of this kind
of episcopacy, and it was soon branded with the
stamp of irregularity. The traces of its exist-
ence, therefore, are few and scanty^ ; but there
is every reason to suspect that those traces wouldi^
have been more distinct and numerous than thej^
are, had ecclesiastical records been fairly dcalfc
with, and the more obscure memorials preserved^^
or transcribed in their integrity.
Bishops con- ^^. But we Hiust now return to Ireland -
ireUnd by a Bcsidcs thc accusatiou of having bishops without
Tnd ^" ""^ dioceses, without jurisdiction, and subject tC3i
*^^'^' the authority of the abbats, the Irish Churcl»
was censured for permitting bishops to bc^
consecrated by a single bishop, and for allowing
consecration per saltum, as it is called ; that is ta^
say, without requiring the newly consecrated
prelate to have previously received the order o»
priest.
Legend Thc Icgcud of the ordinatiou of the celebrated

coiumba's St. Columba, or Colum-kille, will illustrate botl>
or inauon. ^^^^ irrcgularitics. We have it from the Scholia 9
or Annotations on the Martyrology of Aeng^
the Culdce, which have been already* more th^^
once referred to.

to the custom of the fathers^ ivhich naiemh Laighen (i. e. Leinster n*^^

is still preser*ueiL^ lag Si iv role bishop of Glandaloch, who ^*c^^

fiapi5dpoi£ !9vi9iv rov Oeov iccXijffiacy abbat of Wiirtzburg.— Colgan, jf^^

oiKOvoiitttrQat xpi) Kara rtjv icparff' SS., pp. 328 — 321. 1

oatrav ffwyi^ttav ruiv iraripuiv, — ' Scholia, It belongs to the iS

Be*vereg. Pandect. I. p. 87 D. This of February (St. Etchen's day), 9^

* custom of thc fathers' was evidently occurs there in the Bodleian K^*

an episcopacy without diocesan juris ■ But in the Dublin MS. if has bc^

diction. placed at the end of the month ^

' Scanty. Under the year 1085, March, for want of room.

the Four Masters mention Gilla na ^ Abreadj. See above, p. ao, 14-^

by a single Bishops and per saltum. yi

e story ^ is this:

)p Etchen is venerated in Cluain-fota-Boetain, in Fera-
the south of Meath^, and it was to him Colum-kille
> have the order of a bishop conferred upon him.
kille sat under the tree which is on the west side of the
and asked where the cleric was. ' There he is/ said
1 man, ' in the field where they are ploughing below.'
c,' said Colum-kille, ' that it is not meet for us that
iman should confer orders on us ; but let us test him.'
then approached him, and they first asked him for his
hare. He gave it to them immediatdy, and the oxen
sd to plough notwithstanding. ' The cleric is a
lan,' said they. 'Let him be tested farther,' said
kille. They then asked him for the outer (or flir-
:. He gave it to them immediately. Bishop Etchen
>mmanded a wild ox *, which was in the wood, to per-
[le work, which he did immediately. Then Colum-
:nt up to the cleric, after having thus tested him, and
1 what he came for. ' It shall be done,' said the cleric,
der of a priest was then conferred upon Colum-kille,
h it was the order of a bishop he wished to have had
lA upon him. The cleric prayed until the following
I regret,' said Colum-kille, ' that thou hast conferred
er upon me ; but I shall never change it whilst I live ;
reason, however, no person * shall ever again come to
ders conferred upon him in this church.' And this has
Ifilled, up to this time.

y. The original Irish has sent quae de S. Etchcno magnalii

nted in the Introd. to the ferebantur.' Fit. S, Columba, lib. i.

Ohits and Martyrology of 47 j Colgan, Triad. Th.^ p. 396 5

hurchy /)«/>//», published for Acta SS., p. 305, n. vii.
Archaeological Society, 4to, * Ox. So the word damA in the

1844, p. liv. original generally signifies, but

M. This is the town now CoTgan's Latin version of O'Donnell

)nfad, in the barony of Fera- translates it, * a stag,' cervum. Fit,

V Ferbill, County of West- S. Columbie, ibid.

^ No person. Colgan, in his trans-

', i. e. St. Columba's com- lation of O'Donnell, omits this de-

O'Donnell, in his life of nuntiation of the church, and says

mba, paraphrases this pas- only thatSt.Columba on this occasion

;, as Colgan renders it, — Ju- vowed to continue always a presbyter,

nde comitantes se clericos *Et cum S. Columba postea in or-

nto probare, num vera es- dinis suscipiendi administratione er-

yz Inferences from the Legend

Inferences This Icgcnd sceiTis to havc been unkn
legend/ Adamnan. It was most probably frai
account for the fact that so eminent a s
Colum-kille had never risen beyond the
a presbyter ; and that he had vowedy
believed, never to accept episcopal conso
or to permit any of his abbats^ to be 1
Omitting some few miraculous embellisl
there is nothing improbable or impossibL
story. It is quite in the spirit of the tin
quite consistent with the character of tl
But it is not necessary to our present pu
assume all the circumstances to be tru<
may even concede that the whole is
fiction. The author of the legend, h
even in that case, must have aimed at
some amount of probability to his narrat
we are therefore entitled to conclude 1
circumstances introduced into it were su<
deemed consistent with the ecclesiastical
of the times in which he himself lived,
examine these circumstances.

ratum esse, ac Presbyteratum sibi was the fourth abbat, (

pro Episcupatus ordine admini- nous in Adamnan,) is sp

stratum, qux acta fiierunt, divinx bishop. But Dr. Reeve

attribuens disposition!, noluit prae- suspects that this is a

termisso ordine postea initiari, sed the title is ^iven to bin*

statuit nunquam rontificalem digni- calendar oi Marianus

tatem, aut gradum admittere, et in a comparatively late wi

ordine jam suscepto continuo per- followed by the Four

manere.* — 7r. Thaum.y p. 397. But Reeves' Adamnan^ p. 3:

the original Irish of O'Donnell's Life have the much higher

of Columba,prcserved in theBodleian Bede, * Habere solct ips

Library, contains the denuntiation torem semper abbatenip

of the Church, as given above. — Hist, EccL iii. 4. Tl

' Abbots, One only of the abbats Fergna is given by C

of Hi, namely Fergna Brit, who SS.y ad 2 Mart.

iHTROD.] of St. Colutnhas Ordination. y^

The bishop St. Etchen was found ploughing, Poverty and
ox superintending the ploughing of his land. tiTc^ar^y^
This is evidence that even down to the age of the " °^*'
author of this legend, (the eleventh or beginning
of the twelfth century,) there were bishops in
Ireland without any ecclesiastical endowments,
who supported themselves by their own labour,
as private cultivators of the land, or farmers.
But perhaps this circumstance proves nothing
more than the primitive simplicity of the times.
Although engaged in an employment so humble,
St. Etchen was descended from one of the chief-
tains of Leinster, and his uterine brother^ was
king of Ireland.

Again, St. Columba came to be consecrated a coiumba
bishop; this is all that our author's narrative cp-^o^^i
expressly states. O'Donnell adds^ that having ^J^""
been deemed worthy of the episcopal dignity, he
was sent to St. Etchen to be consecrated, by the
unanimous vote of the bishops of the country.
Why then did not these bishops provide two of
their body to assist St. Etchen, and render the
consecration canonical ? Why did they not give
St. Etchen some notice of their wishes ? It is

^Brother. Briga, the mother of St. Etchen, Acta SS, (ii Feb.),

^ Etchen, was, by anotlier hus- pp. 304 — 306.

°^, the mother of Aedh mac Ain- * Adds. At least in Colgan's

"*irech, the king of Ireland, who abridged and altered Latin version,

"^^c to St. Columba the site of Triad. Thaum.y p. 396. * Vir deni-

^ Bishop Etchen was of noble que Deo plenus jam virtutibus et

^^nt, both on his mother's side miraculisclarusabomnibusepiscopali

*^ also on that of his father, Maine infiila dignus judicatus, communi

^'gcas J both his parents were de- praesulum patriae consilio missus est

*^nded from Niatncorb or Messin- ad S. Etchenum episcopum Cluain-

^rb, Milesian ancestor of the kings fodensem, cpiscopus ordinandus.' —

of Leinster. — See Colgan's Life of 0*Donnell, Vit. S, Columba^ lib. i.

c. 47.

74 Columba sought consecration [iwnoD.

evident that this gratuitous addition to the story
only increases the difficulties^ of it. The original
author merely says that Columba presented
himself to Bishop Etchen, stating that he came
' to have the order of a bishop conferred upon
him.' We read nothing of any decree or recom-
mendation from the bishops of the country, ox
anybody else ; we are simply told the purpose for
which he came, and that Etchen, recognisipg
his high claims and qualifications for the office,
consented \Vithout any difficulty to comply wiA
his request.
Bishopt I^ is clear, therefore, that the author of this

bvTrindc legend, for we shall assume it to be a pure fie-
bi«hop. tion^, believed it to be quite consistent with tb^
ecclesiastical discipline of his times, that an indi"
vidual should claim episcopal consecration (roT^
his personal merits only, without reference to zXkJ
see or diocese, and that a single bishop might, ^
his own sole discretion, confer that consecratiol^-
without seeking the consent or concurrence ^
any other bishops. And this is, in fact, the irr^^
gularity which, as we have seen, was complain^^
of by St. Anselm^, in the twelfth century, th^
in Ireland ' bishops, like priests, were ord^n^^
by a single bishop.'
Ordination 34- Wc must also admit that St. Columba

per taltum.

* Difficulties. The bishops who are by Acngus, author of the }Au^
assumed to have sent Columba to St. tyrolog^, himself, and not by an
Etchen, obviously sanctioned con- later Scholiast; Acta SS., p. 30^^
secration by a single bishop, if not note 17. If this be so the stor^
also ordination per saltum. must be as old as the ninth cen^

• Fiction. Colgan was inclined to tury.

believe that this legend was added ' Anselm. Sec above, p. 1.

TROD.] hy a single Bishop, and per saltum. 75

rcording to this legend, expected to have been
)nsecrated a bishop per saltum, without having
!:en previously ordained priest.^

It has been suggested that St. Etchen ordained
olumba a priest, preparatory to his being conse-
ated a bishop, omitting the additional rites
ecessary for the higher order ; and that the mis-
ike was no more than this omission of the addi-
Lonal rites.^ But this is not what the legend
ells us. For if this were all that was meant,
vhy did Columba say, as he is reported to have
said, ' / regret that thou bast conferred this order
upon me, but I shall never change it whilst I
live ? ' These words evidently mean that the
great s?.int of Hi did not know or believe the
priesthood to be a necessary step to the order of
bishop, and that he expected to have been conse-
crated a bishop without having received the in-
ferior degree of a priest. He regrets that the
order of priesthood was conferred upon him, and
^'ows never to rise higher. The story adds, that
^ a punishment to Bishop Etchen for his mis-
^ke, Columba foretold that no person should
"ver again come to the church of Clonfad to
^^ve orders conferred upon him, and that this
'^ediction or anathema, up to the time of the
Uthor of the legend, had been fulfilled.

We are entitled, therefore, to infer from this

^ Pr'ust. That Columba was ' Rites, See the Rev. P. J. Ca-

^^dy a deacon is certain, from rew's EccL Hist, of Irelandy where

^^Umnanii. i (p. 104), 25 (p. 137), this mode of solving the difficulty

^« Kee*ves. is put very plausibly, pp. 184 — 185.

did not seek
consecration
as chore-
piscopus.

y6 Columha did not seek [umioo.

story, even supposing it to have no founda-
tion in fact, that in the time of its author, the
consecration of bishops by a single bishop, and
ordinations />^r saltum, w^ere not considered irregu-
lar in the Irish Church.
coiumba 'iS' Others^ have suggested that Columba majr

have sought only consecration as a cboreptscopur^
and they remind us that by the tenth canon of thc^
council of Antioch (a.d. 341), it was not necessary
in such a case to call in the assistance of more thar&
one bishop. But it is not probable that thcrer
could have been in Ireland such country bishops o«"
chorepiscopi as were contemplated by the counci 1
of Antioch^ ; because there were in Ireland no
diocesan or city bishops in the times of whictm
we are speaking, and in all probability no cities
in which such bishops could reside ; the canon,
of Antioch related only to those bishops who
were ordained without independent jurisdiction^ »
and were wholly subject to the city bishops wh<^
required their assistance.^ It is evident th*^
such a limited episcopal authority as this woi^^^
not have suited St. Columba, whose object yr^^
to go forth as a missionary to the heathen Pic<^ ^
not to remain in subjection to Bishop Etchen, ^ ^
the neighbourhood of Clonfad. Nor wouJ ^
such a supposition be consistent with the story^^

* Others. Especially Lanigan, name, and in part exercising th^
Eccl. Hist., vol. ii. p. 128, sq. jurisdiction of bishops, were t^

* Antioch. Hardouin, Concii., torn. reality no more than presbyters. Se^
i. 398. — Comp. Bingham, if «//y., Morinus, De OrMnatiombus^ parf
book ii. ch. 14. iii. Excrcit. iv. p. 40, sq. If thi*«

* Assistance. There is also good he so, Lanigan s solution of the
reason to believe that the antient difficulty is worth nothing.
chorepiscopi, although enjoying the

imoa] consecration as Cborepiscopus. yy

as it is told by our author. For if Columba
was to have been ordained chorepiscopus, in sub-
jection to Etchen, his appointment to such an
office must have originated with the bishop by
whom he was to be ordained. But the legend
evidently implies that he was unknown to
Bishop Etchen, and Bishop Etchen unknown
to him, when he offered himself 'to have the
order of a bishop conferred upon him.'

There is no escape, therefore, from the infer-
ence that whether this legend be founded in
feet, or not, the consecration of bishops by a
single bishop, and ordinations per saltunty were
at least tolerated in the early Church of Ire-
land.

36. Let us speak first of consecration by a contecra-
single bishop. ^^^^

This appears to have been customary, at the ***^°p-
period of which we are speaking, in the British
as well as in the Irish branch of the Scotic
Church : and owing to the paucity^ of bishops
in Great Britain at that time it was sometimes
tbund necessary to bring over a bishop from
Ireland when a prelate was to be consecrated.
A remarkable instance of this is recorded in the
Hie of St. Kcntigcrn, a contemporary of St.
Columba, who is now perhaps better known
^^ the patro.i saint of Glasgow, under the name
of St. Mungo. His biographer, Jocelin^ of

' FMMoty, On the causes of this ' JoceUn. Vit. Kentigcmi, cap.

pifitT, tct the remarks of Dr. xi. (Pinkcrton, Fit, Antiq., p. 223.)

I^tt, ix€L Amtiq. of Drjun and The words are — • Accitoque uno

^^«»r. pp. 115 — 116. epiccopo de Hybemia, more Bn'to-

78

Consecration of St. Kentigern

Fumes, tells us that when he was choser
episcopal office, a bishop was sent f(
Ireland, ' according to the custom^ of the
and Scots of that time,* to consecrate him
ing by the Britons, the North Britons
modern Scotland, and by the Scots, tl
Christians. The form of the ordinati<
sisted in the unction of the head only, by
on it the sacred chrism ; the invocatioi
Holy Ghost ; the benediction ; and the
tion of hands by the consecrating prela
this rite performed by a single bishop, ou
tells us, the foolish Britons pretended
received by tradition from the Apostles

num ct Scotorum tunc temporis, in
pontificem consecrari fecenint. Mos
inolcvit in Britannia, in consecra-
tione pontificum, tantummodo ca-
pita eorum sacri crismatis infusione
perungcrc, cum invocatione Sancti
Spiritus, et benedictionc, ct manus
impositione : quern ritum dicebart
insipientcs se suscepisse divinx leeis
institutionem ct Apostolorum tradi-
tionem. Sacri vero canones sancti-
ficant,ut nullus episcopusconsccretur
absque tribus ad minus episcopis ;
uno videlicet consecratore, qui sacra-
mentales benedictiones et orationes
ad singula insignia pontificalia super
sacrandum dicat et duo alii cum eo
manus imponant ; testes existant ;
textum evangel iorum cervici illius
impositam tcneant/

'^ Custom. In a Synod attributed
to St. Patrick, the canons of which
were published by Ware, Spelman,
and in 1835 reprinted by Villanueva,
there is the following enactment,
(cap. xvi.) entitled, De fabis epi-
scopis— * Qui non secundum Apo-
stolum elcctus est ab altero cpiscopo,
est damnandus, et dcinde ad reliquam

plebem declinandus et d
This appears to refer tc
without having receiv<
scopal consecration, pre
bishops } the word eUct
reference to * the Apos
to signify consecrated c
and if so, the canon mi
stood to condemn as J
those only who were noi
by at least one bishop j
alluded to is probably
Dr. Villanueva suggest
formation by the metrop
tended (Opusc. S. Pat\
but. if so such a canon
have been made in Ir
age of St. Patrick, or f
turies later j and the w
ab altero episcopo,' s(
way of expressing conf
proved by the metrop
shall see presently tha
even in the language of
Councils, a confusion
election and consecratio
The confusion, howeve
only.

nmw©.] by a single Bishop. yg

tbclcss, he admits the validity of the episcopal
cofisccrations so performed, and excuses their
irregularity by the insular position of the Irish
and British Churches, placed almost beyond the
limits of the world, and surrounded by a hostile
heathenism ; which rendered pardonable, he says,
dicir ignorance of the canons.^

But the custom may not perhaps exhibit such
ignorance of the cations as is supposed. It is
not certain that the canons which required the
assistance of more than one bishop at the
consecration of another were applicable, or
mtcnded to be applied, to a church under the
circumstances of the Church of Ireland. On
the continent of Europe the Christian Empire,
both in the East and in the West, was divided
into episcopal provinces and dioceses based upon
the antient civil divisions ; and the canonical
regulations in question were closely connected
with the institution of mctropolitical and diocesan
jurisdiction. In Ireland, where there were no
metropolitans, no dioceses, and no fixed or
legally recognized civil divisions of the country,
these canonical rules were inapplicable and there-
fore were disregarded.

ij. The first canon of the antient ecclesiasti- canonical

rule for

consecrarion

ofbiahopc

^ (jcmmj, 'Scd licet consccratio numcrant ignari,ccflcsiasticacensuni
^«*)iuby% a»ucta sacris canonibus ipsis rondcscendens cxcusationcm il-
comooa ridcatur, non tamen lorum in hac parte admittit.* — Vit.

*w lot cilcttum Divini misterii, Kcntig., ihU. Jocclin, the compiler
•* tpncopalti miiu»tcrii omittcrc a- -v.! t r r tr _.• a l .

^^ttprtj^mur. Scd quia insulani,
^niM fixn orbem pcniti, cmergenti-
^ ^f^uamm inftstationibus cano-

•* tpncopalti miiu»tcrii omittcrc of this Life of Kentigem, flourished
"«?rfJatur. Sed quia insulani, about the middle of the twelfth cen-
^niM fixn orbem pmiti, cmcrgcnti- tury.

8o Interpretation of the Canons [iimoD.

cal rules commonly called ' the canons of the
Apostles,' does indeed enjoin that ' a bishop shall
be ordained by two or three bishops/ and makes
no allusion to the metropolitan. But all the
other conciliar legislation on the subject makes
three, not two bishops, the minimum necessary
for canonical consecration, and assumes the ex-
istence of metropolitans having jurisdiction over ;
their suffragan bishops. The famous canon^ of |
the first Nicene council enacts that a bishop shall
be ordained ' by all the bishops of the province, or
at the least by three, the remainder giving their
consent in writing ; and that the confirmation rest
with the metropolitan.' The third council of
Carthage^ (a.d. 397) declares that ' not less than
three shall be sufficient, and that they must be
deputed by the metropolitan.' All such legisla-
tion evidently assumes the existence of metropo —
litical and diocesan jurisdiction.
Meaning of Thcrc is, howcvcr, some reason to doubt:
fire° Nicinc whcthcr thc canon of the council of Nicaea wa3
originally intended to regulate the consecration of
bishops. Thc second council^ of Nicasa interprets
it of the election of bishops only. This is also
the opinion of Balsamon, and of almost all the
Greek canonists, as well as of our own Beveridgc*f

* Canon. Concil. Niccn. I., c. 4. ' Council. Con. Nicen. II. (A-***

' Carthage. Cone. Carth. III., 787), can. 3. ^

can. 39, * Forma antiqua servabitur, * Bt*veridge. Sec thc notes **{

ut non minus quam trcs sufficiant, Beveridgc on Can. Apostt. i. •^

qui fuerint a metropolitano directi Can. Nicen. 4, in his PiuuUctit Cfi^

ad ordinandum episcopum.' Sec num.^ torn. ii. part pp. a, 11 ^^
also Cone. Arelat. II. (a.d. 452 al.
443), can. 5—6.

council.

iMTROD.] regulating the Consecration of Bishops. 8i

and it is remarkable that the word used by the
Nicene fathers to denote the act for which three
bishops were necessary is not the word employed
in the so-called canon of the Apostles, Both
words may signify election^ or appointment^ al-
though that used in the Apostolic canon more
frequently denotes consecration or ordination.
And hence the Greek canonists, Balsamon and
Zonaras, in their commentary on the Apostolic
canon, although- they both interpret cbeirotonia
of consecration, tell us nevertheless that some
understood it to speak of the election {ir^pi yjnjipov)
of bishops. And so Aristenus* seems to inter-
pret it of election, using the very same word
{^(f>l^€a'0ai) which the others employ to distin-
guish election from consecration, and referring to
the 13th canon of the council of Carthage^, and
the 19th of the council of Antioch^ both which
speak unequivocally of the election of bishops
only, and evidently so interpret the Nicene
canon.

38. It is not absolutely certain, therefore, that
these canons, as originally understood, did con-
demn the Irish practice ; and it is absolutely

* Election, The Canon of the canon speaks only of ordination ,
apostles has x^^poToviutj the Nicene and the Nicene canon only of elec-
^^n KaOitrnifAii see Suicer, The- tion. Balsamon 's arguments ap-
^^' V. x«f><^ro^^<^* Bcver. Fan- pear quite conclusive ; for if both (he
**^^^' I f., p. 9. But there can be says) meant ordination or both elec-
^ doubt tnat x'^porovioi generally tion, they would be inconsistent with
^'S^fies consecration or oiSination, each other : and in Can. Apo st 2,
^'^d is so used. Actxiv. 13. where the same word x'^po^o^ct^ is

' ArisUntu. Bever. Pandect.^ used, there cannot be a doubt that

*^ i., p. 1. the oniination of a priest or deacon

' Carthage. Bever. IbU.j p. 529. is intended. — Bever« Pandtct,^ torn.

* Antioch, Bever. Ibsd,y^,44g, It ii., part 2, p. 10.
**an$ evident tluit the first Apostolic

8:^ Consecration by a single Bishop [nmww.

vtiidityof certain that consecraftion by a single bishop,
by a single aljthough subscqucntly held to be irregular or
" ^^' uncanonical, was never regarded as invalid/
The rule, now universally followed in the
Church, has, doubtless, many advantages as a
security against fraudulent or false consecrations;
but it was never held to be absolutely necessary
for the validity of episcopal consecration. A re-
markable decision of Pope Gregory the Great
upon this subject is recorded by Bede.* Augus-
tine of Canterbury, in the year 597, finding
himself pressed by many difficulties, proposed to
St. Gregory a series of questions, upon which he
requested the Pope's opinion and advice. The
sixth question was this : ' Whether a bishop
may be ordained without the presence of other
bishops, if the distance between them be so great
that the bishops cannot easily come together ? *
To this Gregory replied, ' In the Church of
England, where thou art now the only bishop^
thou canst not otherwise ordain a bishop except
without other bishops, unless some bishops should

^ Invalid, See Bever. Not, ad de Gallis episcopi veniunt, qui i^J

Can, Apostt, i. Van Espen. Jus ordinatione episcopi testes assisOi*'

Canon, I/««i;^/., torn, i., part i,tit. Some editors of Gregory's wojk*

XV., c. I. Bingham EccL Antiq,, have the reading, *non »l^

book ii., ch. ii, sect. 5. nisi cum episcopis potes :' but y^

' Bedf, Hist. EccL, lib. L, c. 17. makes no good sense, and BevcrKhJ

* Sexta Interro^atio Augustini, Si has shown the other reading to ^

longinquitas itmeris magna inter- genuine. — Pandect,,, torn, ii., part ^

jaceat, ut episcopi non facile valeant p. 12.

convenire, an debeat sine allonim • The only bUhop. The Ro*****

episcoporum praesentia episcopus or- party under Augustine afFected ^

dinari ? Respondit Gregorius, Et regard the British and Irish P««^*5

quidem in Anglorum ecclesia, in as no bishops, in consequence ^

qua adhuc solus tu episcopus inve- their differences about the tonsuff*

niris, ordinare cpiscopum non aliter Easter, &c.
nisi sine episcopis potes : nisi aliqui

irregular y hut not invalid. 83

jtn Graul to assist as witnesses in the
n of a bishop/ The Pope then goes
rommend that this be not done without
, and that when the number of bishops
nd, by God*s help, is increased, the rule
ing three or four bishops to assist at con*
s be observed : but he evidently admits
ity of the consecration by a single bishop
ipposed case of necessity, the necessity,

having been created altogether by his

Augustine's exclusiveness, in refusing
ommunion with the Scotic bishops.
: may very well be doubted whether it TheNtcear
Iblc for the Irish Church, prior to the SSpUne
itury, to have ever heard of, much less jlftSIIS.

the canons which made the presence of
hrcc bishops necessary at the consecra-

bishop. They were all canons of the
hurch ; and the canons of the Greek
notwithstanding the exertions of Pope
id his successors in the See of Rome,
:tically unknown in the west until they
islatcd into Latin by Dionysius Exiguus,
cginning of the sixth century.^ The
)f the Irish or Scotic Churches in regard
:• proves that they had not received, if
ever heard of the Niccne decision* upon
cct ; and there is, therefore, no difficulty

Dionysius must have continue to take the tine of Easter
D. 556. See Cave, i, from the patriarch of Alexandria.
No decree or rule for determining
The Niccne decision, Baxter is now to be found in the
tt to have been no more canons of the CounctL
tat the Church should

G 2

per saltum.

84 Consecrations per saltum [umioD.

in supposing them equally ignorant of the rule
which prohibited consecration by a single bishop
only.

In no view of the subject, therefore, is there
the smallest ground for asserting that the pecu-
liar practice of the antient Scotic churches, of
which we are speaking, in any degree invalidated
their episcopacy \ for it is admitted by all that
the validity of consecrations by a single bishop
was never doubted in the Church, even by those
who condemned them as irregular.
Ordination 39. Wc may uow spcak of the other custonii
of ordination per saltunij as it is technically
called, or ordination to the higher orders, without
passing through the inferior degrees.

There is no evidence that this was a custom of
the Irish or Scotic Church. The legend of the
ordination of St. Columba seems to be the only
instance of any such irregularity having been
practised ; and that story may possibly be misuf^''
derstood, or it may only prove the ignorance o*
its author. Be this, however, as it may, a legca^
of this kind seems too slight a foundation upa^

' Episcopacy, The learned Bene- eo praecipue id demonstratur, <{iP^

dictine Bernard Mareschal, in his duo hie, vel trcs episcopi itqi^^

' Concordia SS. Patrum Eccl. runtur ad alterius episcopi cooi^

Grxcx atque Latinae,* Aug, Find.^ crationem, quando Apostoloni^

1769, p. xxxiv., asserts the validity, acvo, et illis etiam vita hinctis, i-^

as weA as the primitive antiquity uno episcopo alterius episcopi oons^^

of these consecrations,, and argues cratioperagebatur. Cumigitur huju^^

that the Apostolic canons cannot modi consecrationes per unum cpi^^

have proceeded from the Apos- copum pcractae proharentur ab ec^

tics, in consequence of their insisting clesia, consequens est, Constitutioix^

upon the opposite practice. His tunc temporis non eztitisse, aa^

words arc, ' Ex modo adductis auctoritate caniisse \ ideoque lit

iterum demonstratur Const itutiones Apostolorum opus non admitte-

ivtas Apostolis falso adscribi : et ex bantur.*

iNTROD.] not invalidy nor peculiar to Ireland. 85

which to build the accusation of an habitual
irregularity against the whole Church of Ireland.
Nor do either Anselm or Lanfranc in their letters,
which have been already quoted ^ nor even St.
Bernard, mention this among the ecclesiastical
evils of which they complain. They censure
the laxity which seems to have prevailed in refe-
rence to divorce and marriage within the pro-
hibited degrees. They speak of the custom of
consecrating bishops by a single bishop, and of
bishops without sees or fixed jurisdiction ; but
they say not a word of ordinations per saltum.

Such consecrations, however, were never re- NotinvaUd,
garded in the Church Catholic as invalid, nor tothTwiS'
were they peculiar to the Irish Church. St. ^*'''"*''
Cyprian ^ in his epistle to Antonianus, which, if
it be genuine, must be dated a.d. 25^, writes in
defence of Cornelius, Bishop of Rome, that ' he
did not on a sudden arrive at the episcopate, but
having been promoted through all ecclesiastical
offices, and having constantly deserved well of
the Lord in Divine services, mounted to the
highest sacerdotal degree by all the steps of re-
ligion;' in other words, he had passed through
all the inferior degrees of holy orders before he
^as consecrated a bishop. When this is put
forth as a matter of praise, and in a panegyric

^ ^ted. See above, pp. i, 2. fastigium, cunctis rcligionis gradibus

' Cjfrian, Ep. 55 (Ed. Fell. ascendit.' Baluze (in whose edition

OatosJ. * Non iste ad episcopatum of Cyprian *s works this Epist. is

sobtto penrenit, sed per omnia ec- numbered 52) says that it was omit-

^^l^^ca oificia proraotus, et in ted in elt*ven of the antient MSS.

dirinis administrationibus Dominum which he had collated. Its genuine-

^promeritus, ad sacerdotii sublime ness is, therefore, somewhat doubtful .

86 Judgment of Pope Leo I. [nmoo.

upon an eminent bishop, it is manifest that there
must have been many bishops at that time who
had ' mounted to the highest sacerdotal degree/
without having been ordained to the inferior
orders.

Pope Leo the Great, also, in the middle of the
fifth century, writing to the Bishops of Mauri-
tania, censures certain irregular ordinations, and
particularly the consecration to the episcopal
office of some mere laymen, who had never
been ordained to the priesthood. He decides
that bigamists who had been ordained to any
holy function, whether bishops, priests, or dea-
cons, should be deposed ; meaning, by bigamistSt
not those who had two wives at the sam^
time, but those who had married a second
time, after the death of their first wives,
and even those who had married widows. But
with respect to those who had been raised to
the episcopal order, without having passed
through the inferior degrees of the ministry^
he permits them to retain their office, and a^^
tends tliis indulgence^ even toiomewho, aft^*
their consecration, had been converted frot0^
the Donatist and Novatian heresies^ nipvide^

' Indulgence. Ceillier {Hist, des auence, au prejudice det DicnH^

Auteurs EccL, torn, xiv., p. 375) du saint^ Siege, et de ceux qa*Lf

thus sums up the decision of S. Leo : avoit d6ja fait lui-m^me sur oe mjjtt^

' Quant aux Laics qui avoient cte II accorde la meme grace a Dooi^

clev^ a r Episcopal, sans avoir au- de Salicine, cmi s*6toit conveiti der

paravant passes par les divers degres Th^resie des Novatiens, de m^me

du ministere Ecclesiastique, Saint que Maxime : mais il veut que Vua

Leon leur permet de demcurer dans et Tautre donne leur profesaoo de

leur diflrnites, meme a un Maxime, foi par ecrit.* — rid. Leonis M. Opp.

qui avoit ^te Donatiste, sans toutefois Epist. i. (Ed. ^uesnili^ Paris^ >675f

que cette dispense dut tirer a cons6- 4to.}

] Monastic Character of Irish Christianity. 87

they made in writing a full and orthodox confes-
sion of their faith.

But it is not necessary for our purpose to
collect all the instances that might be adduced
of the recognition of ordinations per saltum in
anticnt times. The great Athanasius was only
a deacon when he was consecrated Bishop of
Alexandria, and the same thing is said of Agapetus
I. (a.d. 535) and of Vigilius (a.d. 538), Bishops
ofRome.^

If, therefore, such ordinations occasionally
occurred in the Irish Church, the irregularity was
by no means peculiar to Ireland at the early
period of which we are speaking ; and there is
no evidence that the practice was general, or that
it prevailed in later times.

40. The monastic character impressed upon Monadic
Irish Christianity, from the circumstances of the ^hchri^
country at the period when it received the ^^^•
faith, has already been noticed. And if it be
tme that St. Patrick, as his biographers all say,
was the nephew and disciple of St. Martin of
Tours, another explanation of the fact will be
iddcd to that already derived from the state and
constitution of society in Ireland in the fifth
century. St. Martin of Tours was the great
patron of Monasticism in the west, the founder
of the first monastery^ in the Gallican Church.
It was natural, therefore, that his disciple Patrick

The authorities are • First Motuutery, Locociagum,

fmtA by Btngham (Amtiq. Book now Liguge, near Poitiers. — See

S ck 10, Kcti. 4 — 7), who has MoMtaJemhertf Lis Moisu4 (tOcci-

rna irreral other examples. deni,^ torn, i, p. ai4.

88

The three Orders

[.,

should follow the predilection of his master,
zealously aim at establishing, in the churcl
had founded in Ireland, the monastic Christij
which was then so much lauded in Gaul.

It is, however, far from certain that the
nastic ascendancy in Ireland owed its origi
the institutions of St. Patrick. There is re
to suspect that the connection of the bis
with the religious houses, and their subjectic
the jurisdiction of the abbats^ had its origin
somewhat later time.
^»^to{ A I. There is extant a curious document

the three ^ ,

orde« of published by Ussher , which was probably di
up by some author who flourished not later

The monas"
tic Chris-
tianity of
Ireland not
altogether
firom St.

Patrick.

Iriih

> Ussher, Works, vol. vi., p. 477.
Sec Reeves, Adamnan^ p. 334* «.
As there may be frequent occasion
to refer to this document, a
translation of it from Ussher^s
copy is here inserted. The title
is ' Incipit Catalogus Sanctorum
Hibemiae secundum diversa tem-
pora ;* and the tract then proceeds
thus : —

*Thb First Order {primus
ordo] of Catholic saints was in the
time of Patrick \ and then they
were all bishops, famous and holy
{^clari it sancti]^ and fiill of the
Holy Ghost ; 350 in number, found-
ers of churches. They had one
head [caput^^ Christ, and one chief
[ducem]^ Patri<;k ; they observed
[sufferiba9it'\ one mass, one cele-
bration, one tonsure from ear to ear.
They celebrated one Easter, on the
fourteenth moon after the vernal
equinox, and what was exconunu-
nicated by one Church, all excom-
municated. They rejected not the
services and society of women :
[mulierum admnistrationem et socie-
tatem non retfuthant : or according
to another MS., *<they excluded from
the churches neither laymen nor wo-

men,** mclaicos nee fctmmai
cUsiU repelUbani] ; because fo
on the Rock Christ, they feax
the blast of temptation \qmi
petram Christum fundah^ 4
temtationis non timehant],
order of saints continued fb;
reigns [perquatemadura'uitn
that is, durine the time of Laoi
and OilioU hiolt, and Lugaid
of Laoghaire, and Tuathal. A
bishops were sprune finomthe R<
and Franks, and Britons, and
<Thb Second Order ^
Catholic Presbyters. For i
order there were few bishops am
presbyters, in number 300.
had one head, our Lord ; the
brated different masses, an
different ruies,one Easter on th
teenth moon after the eauinc
tonsure from ear to ear ; Uieyi
the services of women, sepa
them from the monasterin
gabant muUerum admtnstrm
separ antes eas a nwnasterns^
order has hitherto lasted fo
reigns \^per quatema adkuc
dura*uit]i that is, from the
years of Tuathal, and durii
whole of King Diarmait^s

tOD.]

of Irish Saints.

89

lie: middle of the eighth century. In thi^
raliiable paper (which we shall henceforth refer to

and that of the two grandsons of

Mixrcdachy and of Aedh son of

Air&znire. They received a mass

from bishop David, and Gillas [al.

Gildas] and Docus, the Britons.

WKo«e names are these: two Fi-

nians ; two Brendans ; Jarhith of

Tuam ; Comgali ; Coemgen ; Ci-

aran $ Columln ; Cainech ; Eoghan

mac Laisre; Lugeus ; Ludeus ; Mo-

diteus; Cormac; Cobnan; Nessan;

Laisrean ; Barrindeus ; Coeman ;

Ceran ; Coman ; [Endeus ; .^deus ;

Byrchmus ;]* (Ussher gives these

three names within brackets) < and

many others.

*The Third Order of Saints

'wsof this sort [erat talis^ , They were

Wy pitsbytersy and a few bishops ;

ync hundred in number 5 who dwelt

in desert places, and lived on herbs

^ water, and the alms [of the faith-

^] J they shunned private property

[fi^^ria contemnebant. According

to another MS. "they despised all

^^^y things, and wholly avoided all

'•hispcring and backbiting*' — omnia

^tna contemnebant y et omnem susur-

^^ficuem et detractionem penitur e^-

^'^] 5 and they had different rules

^ masses, and different tonsures

msome had the crown, and others

^bair),anda different Paschal festi-

^ [Sverjom soiemmtatem pascha-

**]. For some celebrated the Resur-

'^ion on the fourteenth moon,orsix-

^^di [according to another MS.

<^ the fourteenth moon, others on

2*^ tiiirteenth ;" alii xiii, celebra-

^^W— hut in the black letter nume-

'^ xiii. and xui. might very easily be

J'^oundedl, * withliard intentions:*

y^ darts tntentionibus. Mr. Kin^,

^'tsirr, &c., p. 61, translates this,

'persevered in calculating it by the

^**teenth." Perhaps for duru we

^^Ottld read di*versis,^ These lived

^^g four reigns [per quaterna

^^t^vixerunt'ii that is, the reigns of

|'^Allain(who,in consequence of

>^ evil devices [pro cogitatioiu maUi\y

reigned but three years), and of
Domhnall, and during the joint
reigns [per mixta tempora"] of the
sons of Maelcoba, and of Aedh
Slaine ; and continued to that great
mortality [a.d. 666]. These arc
their names : Petran, Bishop \ Ul-
tan, bishop ; Colman, bishop j Mur-
geus, bishop ; Aedan, bishop : Lo-
man [al, Lomprian], bishop \ Senach,
bishop. These are bisnops, and
many others. But these are pres-
byters : Fechin, presbyter 5 Airen-
dan, Failan, Coman, Commian,
Colman, Eman, Cronan ; and very
many others, presbyters.

* The first Order was most holy
[jianctissimuj] 5 the second Order
very holy [sanctior'\ 5 the third Or-
der holy [sanctus]. The first bums
[ardescif} like the sun, the second
like the moon, the third like the
stars.*

Archbishop Ussher adds, that in
the second and more modem copy
of this catalogue which he had be-
fore him, this concluding clause, or
dvaKt^MkaiiooiQ (as he calls it), was
given more diffusely thus : —

' Note, that the first order was
most holy [sanctijsimus] ; the second
holy of holies [sanctus sanctorum'] ;
the third holy [sanctus"}. The first
glows like tne sun in the heat of
brilliancy [infervore claritatisy ca-
iescit ; perhaps we should read chari-
tatis.] The second is pale as the
moon [siciit luna paUescit], The
third shines like Aurora [sicut au-
rora sp/endescit]. These three orders
St. Patrick understood, taught by
an oracle from above, when m that
prophetic vision he saw all Ireland
filled with a flame of fire ; then he
saw the mountains only buming,
and afterwards lights [iucernas]
buming in the valleys.'

This alludes to the vision seen by
St. Patrick, as recorded by Jocclin,
rit, Patr.y c. 175 (Colgan. Triad.
Tkaum.y p. 103).

go The first Order of Saints [mm.

as the ' Catalogue ') the saints of the Irish Church
are divided into three classes or orders. The
first, who were the founders of the churches, are
expressly said to have been all bishops ; the
second and third orders were for the most part
priests, although some few of them were bishops.
The first order, who continued for about a cen-
tury^ after the coming of St. Patrick, took him
for their leader or model, and followed his insti-
tutions. * They rejected not,' we are told, *thc
services and society of women,' or, according to
another reading, * they excluded not laymen
and women from their churches.' But the
second class, of whom St. Finnian of Clonatd
and St. Columba of Hy may be regarded as the
types, * refused the services of women, and sepa-
rated them from their monasteries.' The third
class dwelt in desert places, as solitaries or hct-*
mits, refusing to have any private property »
living on the alms of the faithful, and despisii^fi
all earthly things.

If this statement be worthy of credit, it wou^ '
seem that the more rigid monastic system was in^
troduced by the second order of saints, and not h^^
those who adopted the discipline of St. Patrick.

It is not, however, to be inferred that the firsT
order of saints had no monasteries : but only thatSi
their ministry was not exclusively restricted to^
the monasteries, and that they did not rigidly
reject the services of women^ in their monas-

* Century. To the latter end of ■ Women. Sec the curious stoiy
the reign of King Tuathal Maol- told by Joceiyn, c. loiy of LujMta,
garbhy a.d. 533 — 544. the sister of St. Patrick, liring in

following St. Patrick as their Teacher. 91

It is remarkable that tljiis is spoken of as
dence of their superior holiness — 'quia
petram, Christum, fundati, ventum tenta-
aon timebant.'
Dr. Lanigan explains the rule made by Exclusion

J 1 r * \ r • • J of women

cond order of samts, tor a more rigid ex- from leiv-
i of women from the monasteries, by tell- moiI^\
that some such regulation became * neces-
fter the monasteries or colleges became
sd with young students.'^ It is quite true

house with her nephew, St.
^t ejus verbo et exemplo
posset in exercitio Divini
Evoluto vero aliquanto
cum sanctus sacerdos juxta
edia nocte surgeret ad con-
Domino, sancta ilia fe-
ebat se ad soporandum
pellibusque cooperire,
praesulis lecto.' Triad,
5.89. The Tripartite Life,
af the scandal which arose
:casion, attributes the ma-
ny altogether to the fact of
> and his aunt residing in
house ; taking no notice of
:ause assigned for it. * Ha-
mbo in una domo, quod
xsuspicionisfiindamentum
n vel unicum.* Lib. ii.,
>. Thaum.y p. 133.
fits, Lanigan ii., p. 20.
e curious story of St. Mu-
k of Hymns, p. 97), which
show that some such rule
ible. There is a legend told
olia to the Dublin copy of
Tology of Aengus, which
rars translation. It relates
ithin, said to have been a
f St. David of Menevia, a
rary of the Columbas,
and Kierans, and there-
ging to the second order of
though his name is not
I in any of our copies of
>gue. Colgan slurs the
er in general terms, which

however clearly show that he was
acquainted with it. Actt. SS, pp. 9,
10. The practice was a very an-
tient one, and is censured by St.
Cyprian. (See Mosheim, De rebus
Ckristianor, ante Constant, p. 598.)
We may perhaps venture to give
an abridgment of the legend, under
the protection of a dead language :
* Scuthinus, ut pnelium sibi majus
fiat, duas pulcherrimas virgioes, lecti
sui participes omnibus noctibus fecit.
De qua re quaestio fiiit, et venit Bren-
danus ad inquirendum utnim contra
legespudicitix aliquid committeretur.
Scuthinus ait, Hac nocte lectuli
mei Brendanus periculum faciat.
> Consentiens Brendanus lectum as-
cendit. Virgines in lectum scse Bren-
dano introducunt. lUe autem tali
contubemio inflammatus, dormire
non potuit.' His companions scoff
at him, advising him to cast himself
into a tub of water, which they ad-
mit Scuthin was often compelled to
do. Brendan retired, admitting that
Scuthin had attained a higher
degree of sanctity than he j but he
seems to have been satisfied by the
mere testimony of the parties them-
selves that there was no violation of
moralitv in the matter ; and Scuthin
(as Colgan tells us) had by these
means acquired such angelic and
ethereal purity, that his body be-
came spiritualized, and he was able
to walk on the surface of the sea
without sinking. The existence of

g2 Differences in Discipline between [urmoo.

that the monasteries of the second order of saints
were also colleges, in which young men were
trained for the ecclesiastical and missionary life.
But the regulation in question seems to have had
in view something more. The comparison insti-
tuted in the Catalogue between the first order of
saints, who ' feared not the blast of temptation,'
and the second order, who it seems did fear the
danger, implies evidently that the regulation had
reference to the ' saints ' themselves. And it is
on this account apparently that the first order
are described as like the sun, and most holy^
the second, like the moon, and holy in an inferior^
degree only. This language does not give us th^
idea that the safety of the ' young students ' wa^
the sole object of the regulation in question.

Taking the words strictly, * abnegabant mu —
lierum administrationem,' ' they rejected th^
ministrations of women,* we may perhaps infcK"
that the prohibition at first extended only to the
employment of women as servants, or attendants,
in permanent connection with the monasteries ;
and that the greater strictness which excluded
women^ from the monastic churches, and forb^A

this dangerous practice, if it were ^ Women, See scrnie exampki^^r

at all coraraon, would be a better this strictness in Ussher, Pmno^Sll

reason for the rule 'abnegabant mu- p. 941, sa, (Works, yi. p. 510). ^

lierum adrainistrationem ' than that story told of St. Enda or EnniP- ^

given by Lanigan. Perhaps the differ- Aran, that he refused to lee _.

ence between the two orders of saints sister, S. Fanche, and her compmio^S

may have been in reality this; that the when she visited, him in his fore^^^

first order admitted this singular test, monastery to induce him to retu.^^^

* ventum tentationis non timentcs,' to Ireland, has evidently bc^^

and the second order prohibited it ; dressed up in the ideas prevak^^

Scuthin alone having been ambitious at the period when his biograf^^^^

enough to aim at rivalling in this was written. He erected a tent ^^

respect the < Ordo sanctissimus.' her < in solo monasteriiy* and cotr^'

TROD.] the first and second Orders of Saints, g^

monk so much as to look upon the face or
)rm of even his nearest female relative, was the
Towth of a later time.

43. St. Patrick and his followers, the first Thefint
rder of saints, in their efforts to evangelise the pio^*Se
ountry, adopted the plan of consecrating and Sih^^
ending forth a great number of bishops, without
Lxed sees, some of whom became the founders
»f monasteries ; some obtained land and other
privileges from the chieftains or petty kings, and
nailt towns or cities, the germ of future episcopal
ecs and dioceses ; others again were content to
xercise their ministry in monasteries, subject to
he jurisdiction of the abbats.

The second order, on the contrary, employed xheiecond
3r the most part the ministry of priests only. of^LtJ
r'heir plan was to establish monastic schools or
olieges for the dissemination of ecclesiastical
earning, and for the instruction of students in
vhat they regarded as catholic and orthodox
aith.

And it will be observed, that throughout the
•vhole of this Catalogue there is not the smallest
dlusion to diocesan or archiepiscopal jurisdiction,
^ot a word is said of a primacy in Armagh, or of
^ny peculiar authority vested in the successors of
5t. Patrick, except this, that the first order,
having their one Head, Christ, followed Patrick
^ their leader or guide : retained, in the cele-
Wtion of their Mass, the Liturgy introduced

*»g his own face also with a veil, so conversed together.— T/V. S. Endei
^ neither could see the other, they (Colgan. Actt, SS. 11 Mart ).

94 The early Primacy of Armagh. [iimot

by him ; adopted the same tonsure and the sann
Easter which he had taught ; and were so fa
united in discipline, that what one of the!
churches excommunicated, all excommunicated.
Nature of In such a systcm, which it is plain did no
\^^^ include all Ireland, in the age of our author, th
'^ thTfim recognised successors of Patrick would naturall
''"**' °^ exercise a moral influence, amounting to a prac
tical jurisdiction over the churches so unite
together. In any disputed question the successo
of Patrick would naturally be the interpreter c
his institutions, and the referee as to the rca
meaning of the traditions received from him
Those whose principle it was to follow Patrick
under Christ the one Head, as their guide o
teacher, would necessarily, after the death o
Patrick, look up to his legitimate successor a
his representative, the depository of his doctrine
and therefore practically their guide, as Patricl
was. But this did not amount to a primatia
jurisdiction in the see of St. Patrick as such, ii
the modern sense of the term. The excommu-
nication pronounced by the Church of Armagl
was indeed obeyed and submitted to by the firs
order of saints ; but Armagh was equally boun
to obey the excommunication pronounced t
any other church of the confederacy. The^
was no special jurisdiction in Armagh. Tl
rule of this first order of saints was simply thi
that what one of their churches excommuP
cated, whether that church was Armagh or af^
other, all were bound to excommunicate.

wnoD.] The second Order of Saints. g^

The second order of saints do not appear to The second
have had any connection with Armagh, or the nectedwith
institutions of St. Patrick. They acknowledged znT^
our Lord as their * one Head ;' they had one ^^ °^
tonsure from ear to ear, similar to that which
Patrick had introduced. They had one Easter,
the fourteenth moon after the equinox. In
these respects they agreed with the Patrician
saints ; but they celebrated different masses, and
had different monastic rules. They had received
a Mass, or Liturgy, from David, the celebrated
bishop of Menevia, now called from him St.
David's, another (for that seems to be the mean-
ing) from Gilla or Gildas, and another from
Docus, the Britons.^ This order was therefore
connected not with Armagh, but with Menevia
and the Church of Wales. This order was
I also connected with the Columban Church of

i North Britain, Cumberland, Northumberland,
and Durham. From this order proceeded that
great stream^ of Irish missionaries, who went
forth to evangelise Europe, at the end of the
sixth, and during some following centuries. From
^hem the Venerable Bede must have derived
'^is information respecting the Scotic or Irish
Churches. From them must have been obtained
^n the information respecting Ireland which is
^Q be found in the writings of continental authors.

' Britons. See what Dr. Lanigan cum grcge philosophorum ad littora

^ said on the history of these three nostra migrantem ? ' — Epirt. ad,

^clsh saints. Eccl, Hist, i., p. 469 CaroL Cal*vum, ap. Duchesne, Hist.

% ii., p. 19, note (59). Fr. ii., p. 47i- W^c have seen that

* Stream, * Quid Hibemiam me- the word philosopher was often em-

^^xtm (says Heric of Auxerre) con- ployed to signify « monk. See above,

^«nipto pclagi discrimine pene totam p. 46.

g6 Silence of Bede and other Writers [umoo

Silence of 44. And it IS remarkable that in the writing:

the conti- of Bede we find no mention of St. Patrick or o

mi^onariet Armagh. He speaks only of Columba, and th<

t^'rf^r presbyters or bishops of the second order o

''*'"*^ saints. Adamnan also, the biographer of Co

lumba, although he once incidentally mention

St. Patrick^ is silent as to Armagh. The con

tinental missionaries of the sixth and followinj

centuries seem to have carried with them t

Europe no traditions of Armagh or of Patrick.

This remarkable silence has appeared to som
unaccountable, and even inconsistent with th
existence of St. Patrick.^ But the explanatioi
of it is obvious ; the Irish saints of the secon<
order were connected with the British Church
and not with the Church of St. Patrick. The
were disposed to emigration, and their religiou
zeal carried them to the Picts of North Britain
and to the barbarous nations of the continent o
Europe, to win souls to Christ. There was n
reason why they should say anything to thei
converts about Armagh, or the successors of Si
Patrick. They were in all probability moi
anxious to connect the churches and monasteri<
which they had founded on the continent wil
Rome and the successors of St. Peter, from whoi
more effectual support might be obtained. Bi
that they did not altogether ignore St. Patric

^ St, Patrick, < Nam quidam put very strongly in sooie vmhn

proselytus Brito, homo sanctus, papers, entitled PalUu&u reitkm

sancti Patricii diacipuius, Maucteus by the late Hon. A. Herbert % p

nomine,* &c. — Adamnan. Pr^tf. 2 lished (without his name) in

(ed. Reeves, p. 6). Brit Magazine, voL xxr. (i<44]

• St, Patrick. The argument is

iKTROD.J as to the History of Patrick. gy

is evident from the great collection of canons,
from which D'Achery^ has published extracts,
in which Patrick and the synods said to have
been held by him in Ireland are frequently re-
ferred to. This collection has been preserved in
continental libraries only, and was evidently com-
piled in one of the continental monasteries con-
nected with Ireland. A note at the end of the
MS. states that the compiler, or perhaps only
the transcriber, was a cleric named Arbedoc, who
had the assistance or permission of the abbat
Haelhucar. These names, if they have been
correctly transcribed, do not seem to be Irish •
But this only strengthens the argument that
the Irish missionaries did not abstain from all
mention of St Patrick, in their efforts to instruct
their European converts.

45. The saints of the third order were her- The saints
mits and solitaries. They were isolated from ordcn
each other, and seem to have lived without any
direct recognition of episcopal or abbatial au-
thority. They had different monastic rules ;
different liturgies; different tonsures; different
Easters. It is not said from whence they de-
rived their liturgies ; neither is it said, as it is
said of the two other orders, that they recog-
nised Christ as their * one Head.' This omission

' D'Achery. Spicil. torn. i. p. St. Germain. He does not, however,

49 1 1 sq, D*Achcry was of opinion tell us the age of these MSS. See

that this collection was made before Ceillier, Hist, des Auteurs Eccles,

the eighth century. He had two MSS. torn. xvi. p. 574. We have seen

of it J one from which he mainly also that in the continental lives of

copied, belonging to the Abbey of St. Rupert or Rudpert, and othere,

Corbey, the other to the Library of St. Patrick is not ignored.

H

the second
urder.

of Clonard.

98 Second Order of Saints. [umoo.

may have been accidental, and of no signifi-
cance ; but it cannot be without significance
that they are not said to have followed the
teaching of St. Patrick.

History of 4^- Thc two saiuts, Finnen, or Finnian (viz.

Mhfte!" of Finnian of Cluain-Eraird, now Clonard, County of
Meath ; and Finnian, or Finnbarr of Magh Bile,
now Moville, on the banks of Lough Foyle,
County of Donegal), are given in thc catalogue as
the first in the list of saints of the second order.

St Finnian Thc fomicr, St. Fiuuiau of Clonard, was thc
master of a celebrated school, which is said to
have produced three thousand disciples. Thus
thc hymn ad latideSy in the Office of St. Finnian,
printed at Paris, i6zo, and reprinted by Colgan^,
says, —

* Trium virorum millium
Sorte fit Doctor humilis ;
Verbi his fudit fluvium
Ut fons emanans rivulis.'

And although we may reasonably doubt the au-
thenticity of so large a number, it is certain that
thc school of Clonard was the alma mater oi
many eminent ecclesiastics. In the Martyrology
of Donegal^, and by the Four Masters^ this S^*
Finnian is called * Tutor {oidbe, or foster-fathe^)^
of the saints of Ireland.' The Latin author ^
his life tells us particularly that the celebrat^^
saints who were called thc twelve apostles ^'

* Colgan. Actt. SS. Hib. p. 401. (= 549), at which year they tell «**
2 Donegal, At Dec. 12. that he died.

' Four Masters, At a.d. 548

9

INIHOO.]

St. Finnlan of Clonard.

99

Ireland, together with many others^ were of his
disciples.

We read also^ that, after having been initi-
ated in ecclesiastical learning by St. Fortchern
of Trim (if this be not an anachronism), and
afterwards by St. Caiman, of Dair-inis, an island
in the bay of Wexford, Finnian passed over to
Kill-muine, or Menevia^ afterwards called St.
David's and became the associate or disciple of
the three eminent saints, David, Cathmael, and

Gildas.
Cathmael was the original baptismal name of

the Welsh Saint Cadoc^, or Cattwg, as we learn

His early
educadon.

' Others, Colgan has enumerated
32 eminent saints who were educated
in his school. — Actt. SS. p. 405.
^fP' c. 3. See also Reeves Adam-
nan, p. 195, note b. The twelve
^postles of Ireland were the follow-
ing : I . Ciaran, or Kieran, bishop
*nd abbat of Saighir, (now Seir-
K^icran, King's Co.). 2. Ciaran or
Kieran, abbat of Clomnacnois. 3.
Columcille of Hy. 4. Brendan,
wshoD and abbat of Clonfert. 5.
Brendan, bishop and abbat of Birr
(now Parsonstown, King's Co.).
^- Columba, abbat of Tirdaglas.
7. Molaise or Laisre, abbat of Dam-
^'*Jis,now Devenish-island, in Loch
■^'Tie. 8. Cainnech, abbat of A-
^adh-bo, Queen's Co. 9. Ruadan,or
"^^odan, abbat of Lorrha, Co. Tip-
^raiy. 10. Mobi Clairenech, or
^« flat-faced, abbat of Glasnaoid-
^^ (now Glasnevin, near Dublin).
^'» Scnell, abbat of Cluain-inis m
^-<ich Erne 5 and 12. Nannath, or
^cnnith, abbat and bishop of Inis-
?*^igc-samh, now Inis-mac-Saint,
^*^ Loch Erne.

' Also. Vit. S. Finniani, c. 4.
Colgm, Actt. SS.yip. 393.

' Mene*via. In Welsh Hen-meneu^
^finslated Vetus rubus, Muine, in

Irish, and meneu, in Welsh, signify
a bramble bush.

* St, Cadoc, Vita S. Cadoci,
ed. IF. J. Rees, « Lives of Cambro-
British Saints,' pp. 25 — 27. This
legend represents the name as given
by Divine command. A voice came
at night to the saint's father, pre-
dicting that a holy hermit would
arrive on the following day to bap-
tize the child, * nomenque ejus Cat-
mail vocabitur.' A fountain springs
up miraculously, and in its water
the child is baptized by the hermit,
who is said to have been an Irish-
man, by name Meuthi j * Postquam
autem beatus Meuthi, cum solum
saltantem conspexit, alacriori gau-
dens animo maturius eundem in ipso
sacro fonte baptizavit, atque pro
precepto angelico nomen ei Cath-
mail imposuit.' The Irish hermit
here called Meuthi, is evidently the
same who in other authorities is
termed Tathai, and TAadJeus ; Col-
gan,-^r//. .y-S". p. 158, c. 2. The
Life of S. Tatheus, published by
W. J. Rees, * Lives of Cambro-
British Saints,' p. 255, expressly iden-
tifies him with the tutor of Cadoc.
Ussher places the school of Tathai
at the year 469 (/»</. CAr. and

100 St. Fmnian of Clonard. [nmoo.

from his life ; there cannot, therefore, be a doubt
that the three Welsh preceptors of St. Finnian
were the same as the three, David, Gildas, and
Docus^ (or Cadocus), from whom the Irish
saints of the second order are said in the cata-
logue to have received their masses or liturgies.*
His piigri- When about to leave his Welsh associates, St.
Romc^pre- Finuiau, we are told, resolved upon a pilgrimage
Jn^Angd. to Rome, but was warned by an angel to proceed
rather to his own country, where God would
receive his intention as equivalent to the pilgri-
mage he had meditated, and grant him the same
merits as if he had visited Rome. And accord-
ingly he set out for Ireland, * to gather together
there,* as his Latin biographer^ tells us, ' a people
acceptable to the Lord.'

In another Life, extant in manuscript, in the

Works, vol . V. p. 1 1 6) , quoting the Life was priyately printed ( loo cop***

authority of John of Timnuth. only) by the Marquis of Ormo^^'

* Docus. The Annals of Ulster, from a MS. preserved in the ^^^

at the year 473, mention the death gundian Library, Brussels, coU**'^

of Doccusy a British bishop and ab- with another in Abp. Manh*» ^'

bat : * Quies Docci episcopi sancti brary, Dublin.

Britonum abbatis.' But this can • jBw^irt^«-. *Ut ibi populum J^f*

scarcely be the Docus from whom acceptabiiem acquireret.* Fit, S, -^jSc

the second order of saints derived nianty c. xi. — xi. Colgan, Actt, ^

their Mass ; for the second order are p. 394. The Latin Life, publi*^^

expressly said to have flourished from by Colgan, consists of two p^ 'y

the close of the reign of Tuathal The first is evidently older than ^i

Maelgarbh (ob. 544), to that of other, and ends with the wo-^^

Aodh, son of Ainmire (ob. 599). * Hate de primo libro vita; ejus

* Liturgies. It is remarkable that cerpta sunt,' shewing that it is c^"^

St. Cannech or Canice of Kilkenny an extract from a larger wc^

is said to have been educated by St The second part consists entirclr^

Doc or Docus, in Wales. * Perrexit legends of miracles, and was wnr^

trans mare in Britanniam, ad virum after the Catalogue of the Th ^

sapientemetreligiosissimum,Doc[a/. Orders of Saints, which it ^WiC^^

Docum],legitqueapud ilium sedule, It begins * Igitur Finnianus of^"J

ct bonos mores didicit, et erat valde mus sanctorum secundi ordinis, 9^^

humilis et olwrdiens.* Fit. S. Can- has, volens multiplicare cultum J^^

fiechiy p. 3 (Dubl. 1853). This altissimi, &c.'

ofTioa] The Faitb corrupted In bis Time. loi

Irish language, the same story is told more briefly,
but with a particular circumstance of some
interest, which is omitted in the Latin. After
relating the miraculous defeat of an invading
party of Saxons^ (St. Finnian with a stroke of
his haculus or pastoral staff having caused a
mountain to fall upon them), the Irish author^
proceeds: * After this, a desire seized Finnian to
go to Rome, when he had completed his educa-
tion. But an angel of God came to him, and
said unto him, " What would be given to thee at
Rome,*' says he, " shall be given to thee here.
Arise, and renew sound doctrine and faith in
Ireland after Patrick.'* *

This must mean the doctrine and faith which The Faith
had become corrupted since St. Patrick's time, l^m^^tct
It is so understood in the office of St. Finnian,
reprinted^ by Colgan, where we read that ' when
he was meditating a pilgrimage to Rome, he was
persuaded by an angel to return to Ireland, to
restore the faitb wbicb bad fallen into neglect
after tbe deatb of St. Patrick." We shall see

\Sax9mj. The story is told in the 1620, under the editorship of Thomas

Latta Life, c. 8. Colgan, ioc. cit. Messingham. The following are the

* IruA Amtkor, There is a good passages above alluded to : — In ido
^ of the IruJi Life in the Book Noctumo. Lect. vi. * Tandem Ro-
oTUiniore, a MS. in the possession mam meditanti inHibemiam reditum
<* tJie Duke of Devonshire. The Angclus Domini sua&it, ad fidem
L«ia luthor, as printed by Colgan, post B. Patricii obitum neglcctam
^i^^^fa be evidently niade use of restaurandam, &c.* Finnian is also
*e Imh, of which he frequently evidently alluded to as a reformer
*^opt» the order and often the very in the * Hymnus in utrisque ves-
«pftmioiH^ omits all allusion to the peris.'
ronipcioo of the faith in Ireland, « Rcfulrit lol juititijp,
•'Oft St. Patrick's time. C"3e pnui fuit sub nubilo.

* RifrimteJ. Colgan, Actt. SS. Clcri contubemu
? 451. This Office, with the Offices Reformantur divinitus,' &c,
'^ Pitrick, Columcille, Brigid, &c., — Colg. ib., p. 400.
«* originaly printed at raris in

time.

loz St. Finntan ofMovllle [u«trc

reason presently to accept this as the real meai
ing of our author.
Finnianof 47' Thc second of the two saints Finnic
Maghbiie. mentioned in the Catalogue among the saints
the second order, is believed to have been St. Fii
nian, or Finnbarr, of Maghbile. Colgan has mail
tained the identity of this ecclesiastic with tl
Frigidian or Fridian, who was bishop of Luce
in Tuscany, in the sixth century. There cann*
be a doubt that the traditions of the church
Lucca support this conclusion ; and Colgan h
printed two lives, one taken from the Office
St. Fridian, as used in the church of Lucca, tl
other from a MS. preserved in the Carthusij
abbey at Cologne. Both these are, in fact, liv
of St. Finnian of Maghbile, with an additic
which makes him, after the completion of h
labours in Ireland, to have become Bishop <
Lucca in Italy. But we are not now conceme
with this question.^ The second of the t^/v
lives mentioned above states that Finnian, <
Fridian, having made a pilgrimage to Rome, 1
visit the tombs of the Apostles, remained thei
three months, having been honourably receive
by Pope Pelagius.^ In that time, being of a

' SluestioH. Sec Book of Hymns who virtually denied him their al

of the Iruh Churchy p. 98, sq. giance, it is probable that our auth

Lanigan, vol. ii. p. 27. It seems meant Pelagius IT., whose tiro*

impossible to reconcile the chrono- however, 578 — 590, do not sy

lo^ with the opinion that Fridian chronize with the early part of \

o\ Lucca and Fmnian of Maghbile Finnian's life. Tighemachy and t

are identical. Annals of Ulster, give the death

* Pelagius. The first Pelagius Finnian at 588 or 589. This ent

died 560. But as he was always in is found in both Annals, in th<

bad odour with the western bishops, words, * Quies Uinniani episcc

and even with the bishops of Italy, nepotis Fiatach/ Dr. OXonor n

iirrROD.] hrougbt the Gospels to Ireland. 103

ardent mind, ' ut erat ardentis ingcnii/ he com-
mitted to memory the ecclesiastical and apo-
stolical customs. He then returned to his own
country, having received the pontifical benedic-
tion, carrying with him certain relics given him
by the Pope, and the Decrees, which in his bio-
grapher's time were still called ' the Canons^ of
St. Fridian/ He brought with him also the
Gospels, which that country (says our author)
had not yet fully received; to which [meaning
apparently the particular copy] God gave such
great virtue, that if any one swore falsely by
them, he was punished with death or madness in
the same year.^

It is curious that the native legends, also, speak said to have
of St. Finnian as having^rj/ brought the Gospels ^to^^
to Ireland. '^''^"^

^^'^ble to read the contractions of to the punishmentofa Clerk who was

^« original, and has printed the guilty of theft. We must not, how-

'^^nie Uinniam in Tighemach Mani, ever, be too sure that the book alluded

?J,d in Ann. Ult. Umamain : (Rer. to in the Life of St. Fridian, under

^>b. Script, ii. p. 154; iv. p. 28). the name of St. FruUan's Canon or

"^^t Uinmany is the same as Fmnian, Canons^ was a coUecrion of canons

?**^ it is evident that Finnian of in the present signification of the

^^ghbile is intended, for he was of word. For the name of a Canon

Jj?5 Dal Fiatach, or descendants of was sometimes given to a copy of the

^**tach Finn, King of Ireland. Sec Gospels, or to the New Testament.

^^k of Hymns^ he. cit. The Book of Armagh,which contains

^ Canons. In the great collection several ecclesiasticatwrirings,together

^^ Irish Canons, transcribed by with the whole of the New Testa-

p-^rbedoc clericus, Haelchuchar ment, is very commonly called * The

L ^ MaeUhuchar] Abbate dispen- Canon of Patrick.'

^^tc,' from which D'Achery has » Tear. Colgan, Actt. SS. p. 638,

Published some extracts, we find one cap. 3 : * Evangelia quoque, qua

v'*^. 28, c. 7) attributed to f7««/fl«i;«/, terra ilia nondum plene susceperat,

^ evident mistake for yinnianus, i.e* quibus nimirum Deiis tantam virtu-

^*tmanus. D'Achery, Spicil. I. p. tem concessit, quod si auis per ea

^7. It is greatly to be regretted juraverit [perhaps we should read

^t the learned Benedictine did not perjura'vent'], morte vel amentia in

Publish this Collection of Canons eodem anno dlvina ultionc mulcte-

^'tthout abridgement. The single tur.'

canon attributed to Finnian, relates

I04 I^ what Sense Flnnlan of Mcrullle D

The stanza in which he is described in the
Metrical Calendar of Aengus, the Culdee, is very
obscure^ and puzzles our best Irish scholars.
But the Gloss in the Dublin MS. of it explains
the words to mean that he brought over the sea,
or from foreign parts, the Gospel : * quod est lex
nova/ adding, in the Irish^ language, ' that it was
he who first brought the Gospel to Ireland/

This passage has greatly perplexed our his-
torians. The Martyrology of Cashel* explains it
to mean * the law of Moses and the Gospel/
The Brussels copy^ of the Calendar of Aengus
omits the gloss above quoted, but gives in its
stead the following note : * It was Finnian of
Maghbile that first brought the law of Moses
into Ireland, if this be true [si verum] : or it is to
the Gospel is given the name of the Law, for it
was he who brought into Ireland, as they say,
the whole Gospel in one volume, if indeed this
also be true [si verum hoc ipsum].' A more
recent hand adds, as a gloss on the word Gospel,

> Ohuurf. Fcllrr of Aene. at Actt. SS. p. 643, col. i.t * FinnouMM

lotb Srt>t. * Cliidcrgoir co nglainc, Kionn [iJ /// albus] dc Magbik|

Co riarht tar val %ide/ Mr. Currv ipse est qui primo Icgtm MoynicayB

t^an4atc^ xWis * Body of red gold with [id e\t VctusTcttamentitiii] cf

purity, whiih rcau-ht-d arro^i the sea Evangclium in Hibrmiam^

hither.* The Glovs explains * purity' So that Colgan would get orer tit

tu signify the Gospel. Colnn has difficulty by making thcwonl fTjrtrf

paraphra>ed the lines thus (/tctt. SS. to si^iify the whole ranoo of the OU

p. 643) : and New Testament, which Fii

Rom.i aureus et prscfulgidus, was the fir«t to bring into Irelaad.

t^ui (untulit lihrm legis ultra The wonis within brackets

man-.* the inti-qnetation suggested by CiJ*

But this i\ reiiKKe imleeil friMn the gan.

original. * Brussels Cify, Mr. Ciifiy*f

* Irish. • AriMT thur s^jmh-Ij in tnns4Tipt, p. 287 (Orig, MS. p. af).

Erinn artu>.* * Kor it was he whu Both notes occur in the MS. of A»»

tirst brought the Gos(icl to Krinn.' ^us preserved at St. iMdort't, it

Rome.

* Cajhtl. As quoted by Culgan,

1

TKOD.] first hr ought the Gospels to Ireland. 105

rorrectum la Cirine/ ^ corrected by St. Jerome/
hich suggests another mode of meeting the
fficulty. Finnian was not the first to brii^g
le Gospel to Ireland, but the first to bring to
eland St, Jqrome's translation of the Gospel.^
48. The author of the Life of Finnian preserved stFinnian'a
the Cologne MS., in the passage already quoted, c^^isceic-
ems to mix together two stories : one, that the i^ ***
ish had never fully received the Gospel until ^^^""^
:. Finnian brought it to them ; the other, that
hat he brought over from Rome was a parti-
ilar copy of the Gospels, possessed of miraculous
irtues.
That Finnian was the owner of a remarkable Anecdote of
opy of the Gospels, of which he was particularly Dunflesk! °
-areful, appears incidentally from an anecdote
•elated in the Life of St. Fintan^, of Dunflesk.

It appears thatFintan once asked St. Finnian for
t loan of his volume of the Gospels, that he might
cad it, but his request was peremptorily refused.
*^intan was at that time a pupil of St. Comgall, of
Bangor, and complained to his master, who told
^im to be faithful^, and that perhaps he should
oon have that very copy of the Gospels. The next
^ight Maghbile was plundered by pirates, who,
^*ith other spoils, carried oiF the precious volume,
it. Fintan was praying under a large tree on the
ea shore, near to the place where the pirates had

^Gospel, It will be observed also ^Fintan, Colgan, Actt. SS, at

^jjatthis Scholiast shews a desire to 3 Jan., c. 5 (p. 11).
^"^rcdit the whole story, by adding ' Faithful. * Si fidelis fiieris for-

*Si vcrum' and * si verum hoc ip- sitan in primo [meaning perhaps at
^^.' the hour of" Prime] illud ipsum evan-

gelium habebis.' — Ibid,

io6 Legends of St. Finntans Gospels, [mnoo.

landed, and he heard them, when preparing for
their departure, consulting about plundering
St. Comgall's abbey also ; but lo, a sudden stonn
arose, the tree was blown down upon the ships,
which were all destroyed, and the pirates
drowned. But their spoil, with the book of the
Gospels, was found upon the shore, and thus
St. Fintan obtained his desire.
SLCoium- The well-known story of St. Columba*s
script of transcript of the book of the Gospels, which he
Gwpdi* had borrowed from St. Finnian, is another ex-
ample of the jealousy with which Finnian guarded
his rights to the exclusive possession of the sacred
volume. Columba worked night and day to
make a copy of the book for his own use with-
out the knowledge of its owner. Finnian clsdmed
the transcript as his property, because it was
made surreptitiously, and because the original
was his ; and the case was brought before the
Supreme Court of Diarmait, King of Irelandi
who decided against Columba^ with the curious
ra7iny or oracular saying, that as the cow is the
owner of her calf, so the book is the owner of
any transcript made from it.

These legends are quoted, not that we would
attach any importance to them as true stories,
but because they shew that St. Finnian was
popularly believed to be, in some peculiar sense,

* Coiumba. Sec Colgan, Actt. Columba's time, but there u no m-
SS., p. 644, sq. Reeves, Adamnan^ dence that it was the MS. to whkk
p. 24.8. Four Masters, 555. The the legtnd relates. The box re-
box called the Cathach (Reeves ubi ceived the name of Catkack^ or battk
j«/>rfl) now contains a Psalter. This book, because it was carried in bittle.
MS. may possibly be as old as St. Reeves, ib. pp. 249, 250, 319.

HOD.] Second Order of Saints Reformers. 107

e possessor of the Gospels, or of some remark-
)le copy of the Gospels. It is evident that
hen such tales were told, books must have been
ire and highly valued in Ireland ; and it is prob-
ble that, in some parts of the country at least,
t. Finnian's Codex, if it was really a copy of the
jospels^ may have been regarded as the first com-
lete copy that ever was brought into Ireland,
nd that it was held in extraordinary veneration
ccordingly.

49. But the legends give us also this im- Arcform-
K)rtant information, that both the Finnians were religion in
)elieved to have returned to Ireland after their obj^tof *"
breign education, for the purpose of effecting or*d«'^^f
t reformation in the decaying faith and morals ^**°'''
)fthe country. In other words, the second
)rder of saints represented by the two Finnians,
w^ere a body of missionaries and reformers, whose
object it was to undermine the paganism which
still prevailed in Ireland, as well as to correct
the errors which had crept into the faith and
practice of professing Christians since the death
of St. Patrick.

And that there was such a period of declension. Evidence
there is abundant evidence. Anmchad, or Ani- declension
mosus, author of the Life of St. Brigid, must °^ ^''*'-
have flourished in the tenth century.^ He was
probably the Anmchad, bishop of Kildare, whose

* (kifels. There is no doubt that See Reeves, Adamnan^ p. 315, note.

Jie word Evangelium was used with The saints of the second order are

nnsiderabie laxity; and it is notim- said to have had different Missals,
•oftiblc that the Gospel^ brought * Century. « Post annum 823 ct

Bto Ireland for the first time by ante 1097/ is the decision of Col gan

t FinniaDymay have been a MUsaL Tr. Thaum,^ p. 564, note 4.

io8 St. BrigitTs Prophecy. [nmoD.

death is recorded by the Four Masters a.d. 980,
or more correctly 981. At all events, he must
have lived after the age of the second order of
saints, and therefore after the period of apostasy,
or partial apostasy, which they laboured to
correct. And he has taken care to put into the
mouth of St. Brigid, in conjunction with
St. Patrick, a prophecy of that apostasy. He
tells the story thus -}

St Brigid'i * She had gone with St. Patrick to the North of Irclani
prophecy of Qne day St. Patrick was preaching to the people of the coun-
try ; but Brigid fell asleep during the sermon. When St.
Patrick was done preaching, he said to her, ** Holy virgin, whf
didst thou sleep at the word of God ? " Brigid fell on bef
knees and asked pardon, saying, ^^ Spare me, Father ; spare wtt
holy Lord ; for during that time I saw a dream." The hdf
pontiff said to her, ** Tell it us, my daughter." The holy fif*
gin said, '^ I, thy handmaid, saw four ploughs ploughing die
whole of Ireland ; and sowers were sowing seed ; and stntig|lit'*
way the seed sprang up, and began to ripen : and rivers of nc^
milk filled the furrows. And those sowers were clad in whte
garments. After this I saw other ploughs, and they 4*
ploughed were black ; and they upturned the good crop, aii4
cut it with their ploughshares, and sowed tares ; and muddf
waters filled the flirrows."

' And the bishop said unto the virgin, '' O, blessed viigiiif
thou hast seen a true and wondrous vision. This is the inter*
pretation of it. We are the good ploughers, for we open the
hearts of men with the four ploughs of the Gospels ; and w^
sow the word of God ; and from us flow rivers of the milk of
Christian faith. But at the end of the world * there shaQ cooie

* TAus. Vita ^quarta) S. Brigidae, that it has here the former ngnifi*
cap. 27, Ap. Colgan, iW., p. 553. cation. * Non pas,' he says, *m k

* World. * In fine seculi.* Per- fin du monde, mais a ia fin do sicdc
haps this may signify * at the end of meme ou il [S. Patrice] mviit ap
a century/ but the other is the porte TEvangilc a ririande.* —
more general meaning of the phrase. Histoire Legendasre dt thiamde^ p.
M. L. Tachet de Barneval maintains 1 26. A similar prophecy is attributBd

moD.] Testimony of the Abbess Hildegardis. 109

il teachers, conspiring with evil men, who shall overturn our
»ctrine, and seduce almost all men."

* Then those who were there with St. Patrick and St. Brigid
iessed God.*

50. The testimony of the abbess Hildegardis Testimony
nay also be cited, although she lived near to the ^ai ^'
:lose of the twelfth century.^ Nevertheless she
s a witness to the tradition being prevalent in
tier times, that the Irish Church of the sixth
md seventh centuries was troubled with serious
evils. In her Life of St. Disibod, or Disen,
abbat of Disemberg, in the diocese of Mayence,
she thus speaks of the state of Ireland about the
year 6^0, when her hero was living as a bishop
in that his native country.^

* At the time when the holy man was thus governing his Corruption
people with words and examples, a huge schism, and great °^ ^\ ^V^^

11 .11. „ , /. T , .X ^ Church in

Jcandals prevailed m all that country (i. e. Ireland). Some the times of
rejected the Old and New Testament, and denied Christ ; St. Disibod.
xhers embraced heresies ; very many went over to Judaism ;
tome relapsed into Paganism j some desired to live, not as
becomes men, but like beasts, in a base manner ; others, in
5ne, although, from outward decency, they observed some ap-
Jcarance of morality, in reality cared for nothing good. To
iese gross errors, to this Babylonish confusion, Disibod op-
posed himself with manly and unbroken courage, bearing
Patiently many calumnies and injuries, and desiring rather to
ose his life, than connive at such vile and nefarious doings.
8ut when he had for some years patiently endured these evils,
wt without bodily danger, and nevertheless was unable to
eradicate them, he was at length wearied out, and, with many
ears, poured forth this prayer to the Lord : '* Almighty God,

> St. Patrick, which we shall have ' Country, Vita S. Disibodi,

»sion to notice elsewhere. cap 6, ap. Surium (8 Julii), torn.

' Century. She died 17 Sept. iv. p. 141.
rSo

no Corruption of the Irish Church [wnc

who comest to judge the quick and the dead, and to search o
the deeds of men, what use am I, wearing myself out in tl
nation, which not only cannot endure thy righteousness, but
also tearing itself to pieces with rabid bites." '

Disibod, for this reason, made up his mind
quit Ireland, and to go forth as a missionary
other lands. He had been a bishop for sor
years in his own country ; and in Disemberg, t
monastery he afterwards founded abroad, he ^
an episcopus regionarius, an abbat-bishop witho
jurisdiction out of his abbey.

The foregoing statement, however, is most pi
bably exaggerated. It is not possible to belie
that any great number of the Irish people in t
seventh century could have gone over to Jud
ism^ ; but these words are a curious commenta
on the whole passage, and enable us to cstima
the value of such language. In the middle oft
twelfth century, controversies and public disci
sions between Christians and learned Jews wc
very common on the Continent of Europe ; a
Hildegardis, wishing to describe the most sch
matical state of things in Ireland which she coi
conceive, may very naturally have adopted the id<
and language of her own time and country, a
assumed that a large number of the Irish peo]
became converts to Judaism. This mistal
however, ought not to invalidate her testimo

^ Judaism. The original words tia his dicbus in Christianos n

are : * Plerisque ad Judaismum se invaluit/ — Fit, S, Daind, cmp.

conferentibus/ There is also men- Colgan. Actt, SS, p. 428. But

tion of a Jewish heresy in the Life perhaps only proves that the mu

of St. David, of Menevia: < Judae- of St. David's life lived at the t

orum (inquit) et Hxreticorum mali- time as Hildegardis.

n the sixth and seventh Centuries. 1 1 1

ict, confirmed as it is by native au-
that the Irish Church in the sixth and
cnturies had in a great degree corrupted

express and very distinct confirmation of corruption
s to be found in the Life of the Gildas^ Tn thedmci
jm the saints of the second order arc ° ^^^^^
ivc received a Mass, or Liturgy. Ain-
ig of Ireland (a.d. 568 — 571), first

the celebrated St. Columkille*, is said
:nt for Gildas, ^ promising that he would

in all his doctrines, if he would come
rc ecclesiastical order in Ireland, because
II the inhabitants of that island had
d the Catholic faith.* Our author pro-
rVhcn Gildas heard this, armed with
weapons, he went to Ireland to preach
He was presented to King Ainmire,
red him many gifts, and prayed him
1 in the kingdom, ' to restore eccle-
)rdcr in the country, because all, from
rst to the lowest, had lost the Catholic

Col^n, Actt. SS. p. Question whether or not Gildas Ba-

Hc is commonly called donicus, * cognomento Sapiens/ was

c u^, from the Battle of the same as Albanicus or not. — See

at the time of his Ca*ve \, 538, and Lamgam I. 476,

D. 520. It Nhould be 482. Colgan makes a palpable mis-

GiUasy in Irish Giolla take about Gildas Albanicus, whom

(»f God,' was not a he supposes ta have been contem-

tie ; a S4»rt of ecde- porary with St. Patrick j and he also

, k^ivcn by the schools attributes to him the writings of

There were therefore Giolla-Caemain, who lived in the

tral who had a right nth Centuiy.

ul were distinguished ' CoiumkilU, Sec Reeves* Adam-

her by bcin^ called nan ; Genecd^ Tables^ p. 342, and

wVk/, AWamcus, kc. Apjnrnd. A. to thislntrod. Tab. II.
>w coiu erncd with the

iiz Gildas a Reformer in Ireland [mnoo.

Hisrcfor- Gildas, wc arc told, accepted this mission.

Ireland. ^ He madc a circuit of all Ireland, restored the
churches, taught all the clergy to worship the Holy
Trinity in the Catholic faith ; healed the people
who had been wounded by the bites of heretics;
cast far away heretical frauds, with their authors/

How for We are not perhaps bound to accept the lan-

this state- . . ". •

ment is to guagc of this dcscriptiou as in every respect to be
relied upon. The Annals and other native records
give no countenance to the assertion that almost
all the inhabitants of Ireland had abandoned the
Catholic faith. Nevertheless we cannot reject
it as wholly without foundation. It is supported,
directly and indirectly, by the whole history of
the period. The coming of Gildas into Ireland is
especially commemorated in the Welsh Annals,
and the date of his death is entered in the Annals^
of Ireland. It is evident, therefore, that he was
regarded as having had some special mission in Ire-
land ; and we have seen from independent sources
that, making allowance for some exaggeratiori^
there is reason to receive as substantially true, tb^
statement made in his life, that the Irish Church
was at that time in a state of declension, and that
serious errors of some kind had crept in. Colgan*
Usshcr, and Lanigan^, all very high authorities*
deny this statement altogether, which is ccrXZivXy
going too far. Colgan's refutation of it is singularl^^

> AnnaU. a.d. 565, « Navigatio Ttgern. a.d. 569, < Gildas obiitr

Gildx in Hibernia/ a.d. 570, * Gil- Ann Ult. A.D. 559, « Quies GM^

das Britonum sapientisNimus obiit,' cpiscopi,' Ann, Imsf, (^BoM),
AnnaUs Camhrite. a.d. 570, * Itca * Lanigan. EccL Hist, i. p.

Culana Credilct Gillas quieverunt,* 488, note (168).

] Objections of Colgan and Ussber. 1 1 3

weak and inconclusive. He gives us a list* of coipn's
ecclesiastics from a.d. 496 to 594, and he argues JSte^^^
that the Church which, in that hundred years,
had produced so many eminent men, cannot
fairly be said to have been in a state of decay or
apostasy. But he forgets that almost all the saints
and doctors he enumerates were the missionaries
of the second order, or their disciples, who had
laboured to counteract the evil. His argument,
therefore, does not prove that the evil did not
adst, but only that most active and successful
measures were adopted to counteract it.

Usshcr's argument'^ is open to nearly the same ArchbUhop
objection. He convicts, indeed, the author of argument
the Life of exaggeration. We cannot believe,
he reasons, what this author tells us, that Gildas
preached not only throughout all Ireland, but also
* through the whole region of the Angli and of
foreign nations, instructing them by his example
and speech.'^ Why, then, should we believe, on
the testimony of such a writer, that Ireland had
apostatized, and was re-converted by Gildas to
the Catholic faith ? No doubt these are exag-
gerated statements. And it is quite true that if
^e had this fact on the sole testimony of the
author of this life, we might perhaps be justified
in disbelieving it; but, as we have seen, the fact
L^ attested by independent and native witnesses.

Again Ussher says, that, according to the tes-

' Ust. Attt. SS. p. 189, note I 3. gioncm Hibernensium,et Anglonim,

* Arpumemt. PrimorJta, p. 907, ct cxtcrarum nationum suo instnixit

5 {^^^tt ▼oJ- VI. p. 471.) cxcmplo ct cnidivit sermone/ c. 10.

^ -fttcM. • Omncm dcniquc re- Colgan, Actt, SS, p, 183.

1

114 T^^^ second Order of Saints [umum.

timony of this very biographer, it was in Ireland
that Gildas had received the completion of his
ecclesiastical education, which had been begun
in the school of the Welsh saint Iltutus. After
having learnt all that this doctor could teach
him, ^ he took leave of his master and fellow-
scholars, and went over to Ire, that he might
learn and investigate the opinion^ of other doctors
in philosophy and sacred literature/* Assxmiing
Ire to mean Ireland in this passage, Ussher pro-
ceeds to show that there were in Ireland celebrated
schools of learning. He enumerates the schools
of Finnian, at Clonard ; of Brendan, at Ross ; of
Ciaran, at Clonmacnois, &c. But he forgot that
these were the very saints of the second order
who are represented as having received their rule
and Mass from this very Gildas. It is not pos-
sible, therefore, that they could also have been
his masters. The inference is, that the author
of the Life, when he represented Gildas as haidng
gone to Ire for instruction, was guilty of an an3^-
chronism ; if, indeed, he meant Ireland by Ir^ '»
which perhaps he did, although in no other pa^
sage of his work does he give the island th^
unusual name, but always speaks of Hibemia zx^
Hibernienses.
Tendency ^2. Ou the othcr hand we have seen that th--^

to foreign ^ ^

pilgrimage saints of thc sccond order are represented as hav^

Jn the . • 1 /• • TTT

•econd order mg gouc, m thc first lustancc, to Wales and othc::-

of saints.

* Literature, ' Valedicens pio sentcntias, in philosophicis atque Ds-^

Magistrovenerandisquecondiscipulis vinis literis, investigaitor curiofos ca

Irem pcrrcxit; ut et alionim Doctorum quirerct»' c. 6.— Colgan, ib. p. \%%,

Inclined to foreign Phgrmage. 115

•ics to look for the ecclesiastical education
the state of Ireland denied them at home,
they received an impulse which gave them
cncy to quit their own country and go forth
sionarics abroad. And many of them, in
id go abroad, and became the founders of
King churches on the continent of Europe
scwhere, in which their names are, to this
eld in religious veneration and honour,
efforts were made to counteract this ten-
may be inferred from the legends, one of
has been quoted \ in which angels are
rntcd as promising the same spiritual advan-
to those who labour at home as might
K:cn expected, according to the opinions of
c, from a pilgrimage to Rome.
>thcr curious anecdote from which the Legend of
conclusion may be drawn, is recorded in ^^ ^***^
iticnt Latin Life of St. Aedan, or Moed-
^f Ferns : —

rrtain holy man named Molua came to St. Moedhog,
* I wish to go in pilgrimage to Rome." The bishop
lim, ** Thou shalt not have my permission.'* Molua
1, " Verily, if I see not Rome^ I shall soon die."
. Moedhog took him up with him into his chariot, and
c not seen by their companions until the following

J, See p. 100, supra. the Irish diminutive was AeJA-og i

keg. This alias is puzzling to which if wc prefix mm, we have

;li^h iradcr. The Irish had Mo-aedM-og, or moedMw^ or as it is

of expressing devotion to pronounced Mogue ; the name by

IT «unt. The first wxs by which he is now generally known,

diminutive of his name. It is a curious circumstance that in

td was by prefixing to his the Diocese of Ferns the peasantry

prr^noun mo^ my. Some- who are of English descent call their

m the present cxse, both children Atdam or Edam ; those of

ibincd. Aedh was this Irish descent call their children

ariginal name : the Latin Mogue to this day.
e form of this was Aedanus ;

TheCaK
of* Saint
Canke.

1 1 6 Efforts made to repress \j*nmi

day. And it seemed to St. Molua that they had been at Roiill
on that night, and that he had there paid his vows at tkl
shrines of the Apostles. On the morning of the following dif
the saints returned to the city of Ferns. And the aged sM
said to the blessed Molua, ^^ Dost thou still virish to go I
Rome ? " He answered, " Why should I wish it ? Hafe
not paid my vows there yesterday and last night ? But I H
ashamed to return so soon to my monastery.*' Straightm
the bishop went with him, and sent him forth to his oi
place, telling that he had been at Rome (perhibens [i. e. Efi
copus] eum fiiisse Romx).

* The mystery of this aflair the Lord alone knoweth ; but 1
know that this holy man was well acquainted with Rome, 1
if he had been there a long time.' '

The Molua of which this legend was tol
was St. Molua of Clonfert- Molua, now Clonfcf
mulloc, alias Kyle, in the Queen's County; an
it is remarkable that St. Moedhog was his junia
but is represented in the story as his senior an
as exercising authority over him, in virtue oft!
episcopal character, Molua having been a pre
bytcr only. It appears also that before St. Moo
hog was consecrated a bishop^ Molua had bec
his confessor.^

The Life of St. Cannech, or Canicc, of Ki
kcnny, tells us a story of similar import. Wht
he had completed his education with St. Docu
in Wales, he made up his mind first to vk
Rome, and then to return to Ireland, to con\'e
his own people from heathenism to the Lo«

^ Timr. Vit. S. Mocdoci,cap. 41. tnuif^cribed the nirratiTc of a 1

Colgan, Acii. SS. p. 213. From tcmponry.
the torn lulling worJ» of the above ^ Com/fjjor, Vit.S. Moedoctyl

extrat t, Colgan infers that the au- and 54. Moedhog died a.D. I

thur of thi> life was either hiimelf S. Molua a.D. 6ot or 609. dmul

a contemporary of St. Molua, or andTi^Amt.

■i

the Tendency to foreign Pilgrimage. 117

iingly, after having been ordained priest,
it to"Italy. There, however, he obtained

certain king a grant of land, and built a
:ery; and forgetting poor Ireland, promised
ig to make that place his tomb. But an
tppeared to him and rebuked him, telling
lat the place of his resurrection w^as in
The saint then, in obedience to the
md of the angel, set out for Ireland ; but,
I his promise, left a toe of his right foot
)uried in Italy.^

ly other instances might be quoted^ from
^es of the Irish Saints of this period ; but to
it any length would carry us too far from
mediate object. It must suffice to observe
e tendency to foreign travel, and the efforts
sly made to counteract it, are fully ex-
l by the alleged existence of social and
istical disorder at home.

word, the second order of saints were re-
s, and missionaries at home and abroad.

Fit a S. CannecAi, fol. 4, bemia,' &c. So also St. Fanchea is

1853) ; Marquis of Or- represented as having gone to visit

iit. her brother St. Enda, in his foreign

i. There is another in- monastery, for the purpose of pcr-

he Life of St. Comgall of suading him to return to Ireland.

Fleming. Collect, p. 395, * Ut talenta sibi a Deo data cum

St. Comgall had resolved populo terrae suae nativae condivi-

?land and travel to Britain j deret.' — Fit. S. Endei, c. 9 ; ap.

ints of Ireland persuaded Colgan, Actt. SS. p. 706. To men-

Tiain in his own country. tion one instance more ; St. Mo-

: B. Comgallus totam de- lagga, when in attendance on St.

bemiam, et pro Christo David of Menevia, was commanded

e in Britanniam voluit, et by an anjgel to return to Ireland ;

e ; sed Deo concedente, * ab angelo monitus est ut in Hi-

t flebili rogatu S. Lugidi bemiam revertatur.' — Fit. S. Mo-

oasecratoris sui, et aliorum lagg^e, c. 16} Colgan, ib. p. 147.

victus, retentus est in Hi-

il8 Nature of the Evils [amaD.

Those who remained at home established mo-
nastic schools for the instruction of the clergy
and people. Those who went abroad were
founders of monasteries and bishoprics, ancho-
rites, scholars, and teachers in schools of learning,
pilgrims visiting the holy places of Christianity ;
but all were engaged, in different ways, and ac-
cording to their different tastes and capabilities,
in the same work of propagating amongst the
heathen the faith of Christ,
Nituitof 53. It is to be regretted that we have not
then pre- morc detailed information as to the exact nature
irirfi'*" * of the alleged apostasy, or disorganization of the
Church. \i\^\^ Church, which Gildas was sent for to cor-
rect. Hildegardis, in the passage just quoted,
speaks of it as infidelity ; a disbelief in the Holy
Scriptures ; a denial of Christ ; a return to pa-
ganism ; a corruption of morals and of decency-
Druidiim. But thcrc is evidence that Druidism and its at*
tendant superstitionswere in existence in the times
of the second order of saints, and that a belief in th^
efficacy of such pagan rites still lingered amongs*
the people, and was countenanced even by sooc^^
who made the highest profession of Christianity^ •
Anecdoct Adamuau ^ tells the following story wh^^
cofumba. speaking of St. Columba's wonderful vocal powc*^
The saint was sitting with a few of the brcthr^^
outside of the fortress of King Brude, on the banB^
of Loch Ness. They began to sing the evenixB-i
psalms, according to their custom, when sodd^^

^ Adamnan. Lib. i. 37 (Reeves, p. 73).

brevaUnt in the Irish Cburcb. 1 19

ruids came around them^ and endea-
tparently by making loud noises^ to
: sound of their psalmody being heard
>plc of the neighbourhood* But Co-
h a voice which drowned the outcry
lids, began to intone the psalm^ Eruc-
mm vtrhum bonum, * My heart b indit-
i matter/ The sound, says the bio-
as like thunder in the air, and struck
id the people with inexpressible awe.
>vcs that the national Druidism was Dmidicai
>stility to Christianity. But this was tbSlTSe
•y and amongst a people still heathen, ^^i^!
)m the effects of St. Patrick's preach- ""^
t penetrated. We find mention, how-
uids and Druidical charms in the court
5 of Ireland at the same period,
ccount of the battle of Cuil-dreimhne, Bank of
he annalist Tighcmach, we read that Sdmime.
>on of Tcnius\ who in another autho-
cd * the Druid of King Diarmait,' made
dical airbbe between the two hosts;*
fuatan, a distant relative^ of St. Co-
it the Druidical airbbe^ over his head,*
hat may mean, and was the only man
a's side who was slain in the battle.

ic Teniu^2n.* Tigh. Lecam, Hist, of Tan Hill, p. 113

Four Masters a.d. {Trams. R. IritJk Acad,^ toI. xriii.).

i<an seems the geni- * Rilatruf, His descent b given

le Dublin copy of 2s fifth inciusire from Eoghan, son

.D. 560) he is called of Niall the greit.

♦ Airhht. This word is not ex-
See the account of plained. It has been supposed to
published by Dr. mean an incantation of some sort;
e Ltahhar amdkt but if so it is not otfjr to understand

1 20 Drnidism in the Court [iimoD-

St Co- The annalist quotes the poetical prayer whio *^

i^J^ticai Columba addressed to the Almighty on this occ^t-
^Jon" ^ sion, to which the victory of his party is ascribed -
In this poem, which is apparently of the natur'C
of an incantation, Columba alludes^ to the ma-
gical arts of his adversaries ; he complains oi
the mist which encircled the army ; he speaks
of the enemy as ^ the host which went round
the earn,' probably because they had marched
round some earn of stones as a Druidical cere-
mony ; and he adds,

* My Dniid, — may he be on my side !
Is the Son of God, and Truth with Purity.*

strinnian*8 O'Donucll rcprcscnts St. Finnian of Maghbil^
th^^o^?te as engaged in prayer on the side of King DiaS—
mait. But Columba's prayers being more power'*'
ful, the two saints came to a compromise ; an ^
Finnian, to stop the slaughter of his party, conp- '
sented to cease praying, and permit Columba t^^
obtain the victory.^

This story is founded upon a strange idea o-*^
God, which indeed pervades many of the bio-^^

how Tuatan could have * put it over ri<ver^ which separated the twC^

his head,' unless we assume that to armies ;< qui fluvium, utrasque cc»a^

have been a figurative mode of say- dividentem, temere trajicertt.' iFk, -

ing that he disregarded it. Dr. S. Coiumba, ii. 3 (Colgan. 7r. Tk^

O'Conor (Rer. Htb. Scriptt., ii. p. p. 409).

141) completely mistakes the mean- * Ascribe J. 'Victores enmt per
ing, and translates in airbke ndruad orationem Coluimcilley dicentis,* «r.
* cxpulsio Druidarum,' as if the —Tigern, he, cit.
wovdYiVksinarhhadh. See Dr. O 'Do- ' Alludes. See the transl. of it
novan's note : Four Masters, loc. cit. given by Dr. Petrie, Tara Wi^ be,
O'Donnell, or rather, perhaps his cit. Dr. O'Conor has entirely mis-
translator Colean, suppresses here taken and mistranslated this antient
all mention of the Druidical cere- poem.

mony, and tells us that Tuatan lost ' Fictory. O'Donnell, Fii. S, Cf^

his life by imprudently crossing t/ie lumb^, loc, cit.

side.

of Diarmaity King of Ireland. 121

;s of the Irish saints, as if the interces-

difFerent individuals, differing in degree

.^er, had each, although on opposite sides,

of necessary influence^ upon the Almighty.

nian were on the side of Diarmait, and

ler particulars of the story were true, he

rectly sanctioning the Druidical practices

king ; nevertheless his prayers are repre-

as having to a certain extent prevailed.

*re is also other evidence that such prac-

vv^ere tolerated at the court of Diar-

After that king had given his cele-

decision against Columba, in the matter

Finnian's book, a story ^ which has been

r alluded to, he endeavoured to prevent

iba from joining his own clan in the

of Ireland. Columba, however, escaped

the royal palace of Tara, and took his

nee. A very extraordinary the house. St. Rodan hearing this,

Id in the Life of St. Fin- ordered the servant to bring up a

Clonard, for which even vessel full of water from the well,

thought it necessary to He signed the water with the sign

in which two saints, by of the cross, and it was instantly

he sign of the cross, re- converted into the same nutritious

h the miracle wrought by and wondrous fluid which had dis-

. St. Ruadan or Rodan tilled from the tree. When set be-

i, had a tree called lylia, fore the guests, however, St. Finnian

.1, from which dropped a signed it with the sign of the cross,

fluid, upon which his and it again . became mere water,

ed. St. Finnian, of Clo- The contest ended by St. Rodan

le instance of the saints of consenting to allow his monks to

; having been their master, live as the other monks of Ireland

>t. Rodan, to ask him to did: * ut similem cum aliis vivendi

monks to live as the other modum haberet.' — Fita Finniani

Ireland did} *utcommunem (23 Feb.). Colgan. Actt. SS. p.

1 aliis haberet.' When St. 395, c. 25.

rrived at Lorrha, he made « Story. See above, p. 106, and

»f the cross upon the mira- Reeves, Adamnatiy p. 247, note B,

e, and its virtue was imme- where the history of the causes which

stroyed. There was there- led to the battle is fully given,
ng for the usual dinner of

IZZ Existence of Druldlsm in Ireland [wncw.

sl Co- way alone across the mountains^ sending his
Lorica,or foUowcrs by another road. During his solitary
Hymn."^ joumcy hc is said to have composed a poem*,
which is still extant, and, if not genuine, is
undoubtedly of great antiquity. In this pro-
duction he expresses his conviction that his
life is in the hands of God, that King Diarm^t
cannot touch him if God has predetermined
his deliverance ; and he concludes by an evident
allusion to the influence of pagan superstitions
in the court of Tara ; declaring that he put no
trust in any such vanities, but depended only on
the protection of the true God. His words* arc
worth quoting : —

^ Our fate depends not on sneezing.
Nor on a bird perched on a twig ;
Nor on the root of a knotted tree.
Nor on the noise of chpping hands.
Better is He in whom we trust.
The Father, the One, and the Son.*

And in another stanza,

* I adore not the voice of birds,
Nor sneezing, nor lots in this world j
Nor a boy, nor chance, nor woman :
My Druid is Christ, the Son of God,
Christ, Son of Mary, the Great Abbat,
The Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost,' &c.

< A poem. This poem has been made in our knowledge of old Iri^^
printed, with a translation by Dr. and therefore a new tnuiabtioii of d^

O^Donovan,in the Miscellany of the stanzas Quoted has been here

Irish Archaeological Society, Dublin, But as tliis is not the place for wu0

1846. philological discussion, tbe

* IVordj, Since the poem was pub- must he content with a lefcrcBce t^

lished by the Irish Archaeoloeical the IruA FtrsioM o/NnmimSfj^i^^^

Society, some progress has been note.

.] in the sixth Century. 1 23

Wc have here an enumeration of the prin-
cipal omens and methods of divination in use
amongst the antient pagans^ some of them not
even yet wholly forgotten. And it is evident
that King Diarmait, feeling himself perhaps
the weaker party in the contest with his
Northern cousins^, had recourse to the spells
and incantations of the old religion, notwith-
standing his profession of Christianity.

It appears incidentally that Diarmait was in
ill odour with the Church. He was not dis-
posed to recognize the right of sanctuary, at
that time claimed by the ' saints ' of Ireland,
and was in this way brought into collision with
St. Columba^; as also with St. Ruadan, or
Rodan, of Lorrha, in the county of Tipperary.
This latter saint is said to have denounced the
palace of Tara', in which Diarmait and his
predecessors had always hitherto held their court.
And in consequence of this denunciation no
subsequent King of Ireland had the courage to
make Tara his residence.

54. It is not easy to vindicate the second Thenintiof
order of saints and their disciples from the o^^
charge of attributing to their own hymns, belief in the
poems, shrines, and reliquaries, as well as to S]I^**J[„d

' Cmdmt. Tbe battle of Cuil- duction, will shew the reader at a

^^timkae was in part a contest be- glance the relationship between the

••eta the Southern Hy Niell, of clans engaged in this contest.

^^tm Diarmiad was the chief, and ' St. CoLmba. Four Masters, at

^Northern Hy Niell, represented a.d. 555.

itke two dans of the Cinel Con- ' Tara. Petrie Om Tara Hill, p.

ad Ciaci Eoghan.— Sec Reeves, 115, sq. yita S. Rodam, op. Bol-

^^maoMf P* *5i* The genealogical land, Actt, SS. 15 Apr.
^1^ in the appaidix to this Intro-

T 24 Instances of Druidlcal Powers [iimioD.

their denunciations of wrath and imprecations,
the same sort of magical powers which the
Druids claimed for their prophecies, charms,
and incantations. The hymn attributed to St.
Columba, from which we have just quoted
some stanzas, is said to have possessed the virtue^
of protecting whoever repeated it on a journey
Loricaof from all the dangers of the road. The lorlca^

Gildas. . ^

of Gildas — the same Gildas no doubt who was
sent for by King Ainmire to reform the Irish
Church — is said to have been composed for the
express purpose of protecting the person whc^
recites it from the influence of demons. AncX-
Loricaof so also the lortca or Irish Hymn of St. Patrick^ss^
*^*^ first published by Dr. Petrie, was believed tc^
have had the power of protecting those whc:=
devoutly recited it, from all imminent dangcrsjes^
whether bodily or spiritual.®
The«ca. The very book, transcribed surreptitiously^
batdc-bo^k from St. Finnian's MS., which formed, in partri
hfmba.^^ at least, the cause of quarrel between Columba -s
and King Diarmait, was supposed to possess ^
magical virtues. It was termed the catbacby
* praeliator ' or battle-book, and was subsequently
enclosed in an ornamented silver case, to which
in later times the same powers were ascribed

* Ftrtue. Irish Archaeol. Miscell., Celtic Society ; Irisk Gbstes^ p. 136,

sq. — Sec also Book of fhmmj, p. 33.
^ Spiritual. So says the Tripartite

p. 6.

' Lorica. This was the name (in _

Irish Luirech) given to these com- Life of St. Patrick, a compostttoo

positions, because they were regard- originally compiled^asColgan thinks,

eil as a breastplate or corslet, to pro- in the 6tn century, but in its present

tect from spiritual foes. The Lorica interpolated form of the 9th or loth.

of Gildas was first published by Mr. Trieu Thaum, p. 116. Petrie, On

Stokes, for the Irish Archaeol. and ^ara^ p. 55.

■Tioa] claimed by the Saints of Ireland. 12^

that were no doubt originally believed to be
inherent in the book. Its virtue consisted in
this : that if it wrere sent rightwise, that is in a
direction from right to left, round the army of
the Cinel Conaill (the clan descended from
Columba's ancestor Conall Gulban) that army
>*as certain to return victorious from battle.
But it must have been carried round the army
on the breast of some Coarb, that is successor
of some bishop or abbat, who wras to the best
of his power free from mortal sin.^

55. There is a very curious story told by consecnckm
O'Donncll in his life of Columba, and also in voiuiSy *
an Irish life of that saint. It appears that one b^rui^of
of Columba's followers, named Odhran, a Bri- ^**""-
ton by birth as Adamnan tells us, consented to
a voluntary death, in order that he might de-
liver the island of Hy from Druidical influences
bv being the first of the Christians to be there
interred. The story seems at first sight to inti-
mate that Odhran or Oran was buried alive.
This, however, is not expressly said; but only
that he gave up the ghost, immediately after
having expressed his willingness to die for the
gocxl of the community.^ Adamnan's narrative

'^Mr. S«« the passage quoted from the Life of St. Enna or Endeus of

Kfajing\ Ht^tor^' by Dr. Reeves, the Aran islands. Enna succeeded

-^■iamtuu, pp. 249, 250, and note his father as chieftain of his clan ;

*<i »hcre some other reliquaries arc and, at the head of his followers, he

*o«iooed, to which similar powers came to the hermitage of St. Fanche

■m ascribed. The CatJiacJiy or (who was his sister) singine a song

^Ic crosier, of St. Grellan is of victory over the recent daughter

Mictd by Dr. O'Donovan, Tribes of his enemies. The virgin remon-

'^CMitcmj of Hj Many, p. Zi. strated with him on the ungodly

' CoMMMmty, Another curious life he was leading } he answered

*orj of a voluAtary death is told in * Give me to wife that royal s^irl

1 z6 The old Superstitions countenanced [nmoo.

implies that the death was a natural one: he
mentions no previous consent on Oran*s part;
but only that Columba in an ecstatic vision saw
the soul of the religious Briton carried by angels
to heaven ; the angels contending by the way
against the powers of evil, meaning no doubt
the demons who had hitherto possessed the
island. 'I give thanks/ said Columba to one
of his monks, who had observed his ecstasy, * I
give thanks to Christ and to this His soldier,
because the victorious angels have carried to
the joys of our heavenly country the soul of
this pilgrim, who was the first of our society
to die in this island. But,' he adds, 'reveal
not, I pray thee, this sacrament to any one
during my life.'^ There was, therefore, even
in Adamnan's account of the matter, a sacrament y
or mystery, in the death and burial of Orai»>
and we have seen how that mystery has bcc^

you are educating, and I will do as Endei (24 M art.), Colgan, Ac^^

you wish/ St. Fanche, asking some SS, p. 705.

delay before she gave answer, went A very similar story is told of ^^^

to the girl, and ottered her her choice Patrick and the daugnten of Kit:^

to become the wife of the chieftain, Laoghaire, JoceL c. 58 j Trip. ^^

or else, as she expressed it, < to love 45. But whatever comipciont ^^

Him whom I love — quem amo velis religion such legends may iqii 11110

amare/ The girl answered ^1 will we must attribute them, noftptAao^^

love whom thou lovest/ St. Fanche to the saints themselves

said, < Come then with me into my they are told, but to the biographc^^

chamber, and rest there awhile — ut who have recorded them. iTie^

ibi parum quiescas.* The girl went, belong therefore in dl probability

and when she lay down upon the to a period subsequent to that vt^

bed immediately expired : * in lecto which the second order • of sunt^

se ibi ponens expiravit, atque animam flourished.

suam Deo sponso, quem optaverat, ^ My Ufe, Adamnan, Bk, m.^

dedit." Enna was then brought in to cap. 6} edit. Reeves, p. 103, and the:^

view the corpse ; and the exhortations authorities there cited, 0*DoiuieU, iL

addressed to him on the occasion bv is {Triad, Tk. p. 411). hritk Ms-
St. Fanche, were the means of his »/«/, Add, Notes^ p. xmr. { Innes
conversion to Christianity. — f^it, S. Citfii and EccL nisi of Smismd^

] to overthrew Paganism. izj

mterpieted by 0*Donnell and other native biogra-
phers of Columba.

56. It would seem^ therefore, that the Second The chnt-
Order of Saints in Ireland were unable to ^^sm
divest themselves altogether of the old super- ^^^^
stitions of their race and country: they were J^*^^*'^
content to eradicate the grosser practices of ▼encradon,
idolatrous worship; but they took the course
adopted by other missionaries of the period,
and not without example even in our own day,
of engrafting their own faith upon the antient
objects of pagan veneration, dedicating to a
saint the pillar stone or sacred fountain, and
claiming for their own sacred books and reliqua-
ries the same virtues which the Druids by their
incantations pretended to give to rings, and
stones, and talismans.

St. Patrick indeed, if we may credit the com- st Patrick
pilers of his life, overthrew, wherever he found ^J^*™***
them, the pillar stones which seem to have
formed the principal objects of worship with
the pagan Irish. Thus the idol of King Lao-
ghairc, which stood in Magh S leach t, a plain in
the County of Cavan, with its twelve brazen sub-
wdinate idols which surrounded it, was destroyed,
of course miraculously, by St. Patrick : who
simply raised his pastoral staff, called the Bacu-
lus Jcsu, but without touching the idol, which
seems to have been a massive stone pillar* Im-
njediatcly, it fell with its head towards Tara, and
the surrounding brazen idols were swallowed up
hy the earth.

i:?8 The Idol called Cromcruacb.

cromdubh This idoP, commonly called Crom-
Sunday. supposcd to havc bccii also termed C
* the black stooping stone ;' and under
appellation to have given rise to the
Dombnacb Crom-duthby i.e. Cromdubh i
Cromdujf Sunday, by which the last S
summer, or the Sunday next before 1
day, is commonly known in Ireland. ]
so, we have an instance of the adapt
heathen festival to a Christian observanc
eve of Samhain, that is, of November isl
day of winter, was the festival^ of Cro
the day on which King Tighcrnmas
people held the great assembly in bono
idol, in which he and a large proportii
subjects were slain. Hence it is prob
finding it impossible to abolish altog(
observance of the old festival, the ec

* IdoL This idol, in the Tripar- at a.d. 1117) says th:
tite Life, ii. 3 1 , is called Cromcruachy got this name from a c1
a word which seems to signify the Crom-dubhy who was
bent or stooping mound j by Jocelin, St. Patrick ; but he
c. 56, the same idol is called Cean- thority for the existen<
croithiy which he interprets caput person, and he was pr
omnium deorum. The third Life, c. by Colgan, who transl
46 (Colgan, 7r. 7"-*. p. 25), gives to nach Cromm-duibh «
this idol the name of Cf»«^/>i^. It Masters, *in fcsto S.
is probable that this word is wrongly TV Th,y p. 508 (at th
transcribed, and that it is really the But there was no su
same as Jocelin^s Ceancroitki. Keat- Colgan had no authoi
ing calls this idol Crom-cruadhy \dX\i\^Domhnach\i\ft
{Reign of Tlghernmas). compelled to do so nov

* Sunday, O 'Flaherty says that made Crom-dubh a sai
it was the Sunday next before the well aware that Sund
Kalends of August ; but this is a dedicated to saints, a f.
mistake for November. He also by Dr. O'Donovan in
suggests that this Sunday was so 1004) o" ^l^Js passage
called in memory of the clestruction Masters.

of the idol {Ogyg., p. 199). But ' Festival. See ]

the coincidence of the day with the a.m. 3656, p. 43, an

antient pagan festival destroys this Ann. Ult. 117. 0*Cor

hypothesis. Dr. O'Donovan (F. M. Scriptt.y torn. i. Proleg

fTROD.] Idol Stones at Cashel and Clogher. 1 2,g

ttempted to transfer it to the Sunday before, and
hus to substitute a Christian solemnity for the pa-
;an orgies. Even at the present day All-hallows eve
s observed in many parts of Ireland with sports, and
low unmeaning rites, which are however most pro-
bably remnants of the antient idolatrous worship.

We read also th^t when St. Patrick visited ThcLeach-
Ilashel, the royal residence of the Kings of Mun- (stPatrick's
>ter, all the idols of the country fell down before c^eL
him, as Dagon before the ark : and then Aengus,
King of Munster, was converted to Christianity
with his people. But it is remarkable that here
also an attempt seems to have been made to con-
ciliate the old superstitions : for we are told that
there was a stone there, at which or near which
the king was baptized, which was thenceforth
called Leacb'PbadrutCy or Patrick's stone.^

But to pursue this subject would carry us too Thcidoi-
far from our present purpose. It must suffice to cbg*hCT.
niention the antient stone dedicated to an idol
called Cermand Celstacb (or Kermand Kelstacb"^),
which in pagan times was covered with plates of
gold, and was preserved (doubtless without the
gold) inside the porch of the cathedral of Clog-
W, up to the times of Cathal Maguire, who
lias recorded the fact, and who died a.d. 1498.^
From this stone the town of Clogher is said to
We taken its name, clocb-oir, ' stone of gold/^

/ Patrick's stone, Jocelin, c. 74 j ' Died A.D, 1498. See Four

"'t.TVip. iii. c. 29. Masters in anno.

Kermand Kebtach. This name * Stone of gold. This etymology

»s not explained. Colgan writes it is more than doubtiiil. Irisn autho-

^^and Clestach (perhaps an error rities always write the name Clochar^

°'thc press), Actt,SS.y p. 740. not CfofA-wrj and there were other

K

130 The Bardic Order not necessarily [nmoD.

The bards, 57. Thc bards, or poets, appear to have in-
glil^ai' *" herited many of the offices, and to have assumed
47cUrgyf several of the pretended powders of the antient
pagan Druids. Many, if not all of them^ in
the sixth century, professed Christianity. Dubh-
tach^, who is called chief poet of Ireland, in thc
reign of King Laoghaire, was one of the first of
St. Patrick's converts in the court of that
monarch. And his conversion was followed by
that of Fiac, his disciple, who afterwards became
a bishop, and is the reputed author of a hymn*
in praise of St. Patrick, which however bears
internal evidence of a somewhat later date. St
Columba, if we may judge from the number of
poems ascribed to him, was himself a bard.
The Book of Rights^, a composition which is
evidently bardic, has been attributed to St.
Benin, or Benignus, one of the early successors
of St. Patrick in the chair of Armagh.

places called C&r^^ir in Ireland, which Aquilonalium idolum, OrmtBd

word signifies ' a stony place/ or, as Clestach nuncupatum/ OTlahcftJ

others tnink, an assembly or congre- Quotes these words, as from the Scho*

fition ; for it is so glossed in the ha of Mag^uire, Ofv^. p. 197.
russels MS. of the Felire of Acn- ' Dubhtach, vita ida. c. 3*

fus (Aug. 15). The etymology, (Tr. T^., p. 1 5) 5 Jocelin, c. 44 {«*•

owever, from Cloch-oir, stone of p. 74) ; yita Tripart, i. 61 (*>. f*

gold, has the authority of the Ca- 126). Some poems attribyted ^

lendar of Cashel, (Colgan, he. cit.), him are still extant : Ware, Wrii^

and of the Scholia attnbuted to Ca- of Ireland hj Harris, p. 6; 0'Reil^5»

thai Maguire on the Felire of Aen- Irish tVriters{lhtmo Celtic Sodct^ '»

gus ; these scholia do not exist in the p. xxvi ; Book of Righti, p. 235*. ,
Dublin or Brussels copies of the * Hymn, Sec Book of ifymu ^

Felire. The quotation given by Col- the Antient Irish Churchy p. at7 ja^j

gan (i^.) is as follows : * Item op- where the history of Fiac auid xM-^

pidum Cbch-ar appellari a cloch-oir^ authenticity of his poem is discosae^^
id est Lapide aureo, ncmpe auro et * Book of Rights, This book h^^

argento ccelato, qui asservatur ad been printed with a translation air^

dextram in^redientls ecclesiae ; et notes by Dr. O'Donovan (Celt^^

quem Gentiles auro obtegcbant, quia Society, Dublin, 1847).
in eo colebant summum partium

St CoImaA
of Dromorc

] hostile to Christianity. 131

is evident, therefore, that the Bardic order some bards
lot regarded as essentially hostile to Chris- I?h^"irro
ty. Nevertheless, there is evidence that, in ^*^™***~^-
times of w^hich wre speak, some of those
1 bards or poets had adopted opinions hos-

0 the Church ; and that their power and
ions had become intolerable to the whole
n.

ic following story is told in the life^ of St.
lan, first Bishop of Dromore, a production
irhaps the eleventh century : —

Colin2n was one day preaching to the people in a wood, Anecdote of
komc shamefaced bards came up and impudently begged

1 some gift. The man of God said, '' I have nothing
I give you," says he, '' except the word of God." Then

them answered, '' Keep the word of God for thyself;
c us something else." The saint said, " Thou hast re-

what is better, and foolishly chosen what is worse."
:hc bard, tempting the man of God, said, " Cast this
Tee down to the earth." The holy man said, ** If
ih profit in faith, thou shalt see the power of God."
; said so, he knelt for a short time in prayer, and straight-
c tree fell to the ground. But the son of unbelief was
mgcd ; he persevered in his obstinacy, and blaspheming

This is not wonderful, for old oak trees fall every day,
thou canst only set it up again, then I will acknowledge
: a miracle." Without delay the tree was immediately
igain, by Divine power, as if it had never fallen,
lesc bards, hardened in infidelity, like a second Dathan
biram, were then swallowed up by the earth. Seeing
1 present bowed their knees before the man of God, and
d the Lord God in him.'

. Colman flourished about a.d. 500. He

r. PublUhcd bv the Bol- by Dr. Reeves, Adamnan^ p. 80,
at 7 June. The original note. See Acta SS. Junii, torn. ii.
pftMO^ here quoted U given p- 17> cap. 1, sect. 10.

132 Some Bards hostile to Christianity. [nmoD.

belonged properly to the first order of saints,
and it may be said, that the * shamefaced bards,'
of whose infidelity the legend speaks, may have
been some who had never received Christianity;
their opinions, therefore, cannot be any evi-
dence of the apostacy of the Irish Church, or of
the dying out of the seed of faith planted by
St. Patrick. And this is quite true. But wc
can scarcely be required to receive the story
as an historical event which actually occurred
in St. Colman's time. It must be understood
rather as representing what the author of the
life deemed probable, or likely to have oc-
curred. We take it, therefore, as evidence that-
the sentiments put into the mouths of ther
bards by that author were the sentiments whiclm
they were known to have entertained in his own
times.

In this point of view the anecdote leads to the
suspicion that, in the age of the second order of
saints, the influence of the bards was some-
times exerted against Christianity. There
were no doubt amongst them many who wetc
Christians, and employed their poetical taien*^
on the side of the Church. But, so (^
as they aimed at exercising the power formerly
exerted by the Druids, the superstitions ^*
paganism would appear at first sight mo^
favourable to their interests than the pure do^'
trines of Christianity : and hence it may be coi^^
jcctured that in the century after St. Patricia
they had succeeded in undermining the faith o»

orntoo.] Attempts to suppress the Order. i ^^

many, and that they were themselves as a body
anaycd in hostility to the Church.

58. This suggestion^ however, it must be ad- Attempti

• •• /*iii 1 made to tup-

mitted, IS not nilly borne out by our extant preaithe
records. It is true that in the sixth century ©rder!^
attempts were made to suppress the order of
bards, or to banish them from Ireland. But
in the accounts we have of the motives which
dictated those attempts no charge of apostacy,
infidelity, or heresy, is brought against the order.
King Aedh, or Aidus, who reigned from 572 to
599, son of the King Ainmire, by whom Gildas
is said to have been invited into Ireland, was
the last sovereign who attempted the extinction
or banishment of the bards. This was one of
the measures which he proposed to the celebrated
Convention of Drumceat^ ; his reasons for pro- omvendott
posing it arc given in full by our antient Irish **
authorities, and a good summary of them will be
found in * Keating's History'^ of Ireland,' as also
in Colgan*s Latin version of * O'Donnell's Life*
of St. Columba.' The following is a literal
translation of Keating's narrative : —

' Drumceat. For the exact situ- New York. But this, although

uioBof this pbce sec Reeves, yfii^OT- creditable, is also faulty; and it i&

•■», P. 37, note b. It is remarkable much to be reeretted that the trans-

^ the Four Makers in their an- lator has made it the vehicle of

^^ nuke no mention of this as- objectionable political opinions. The

•rnbir. original Irish text of Keating re-

^ Hutmj. Keating's History is a quires to be collated with good

•wk which has been greatly under- copies, and his authorities to be

«wi in consequence of the very carefully compared with the original

•porittt and ab^rd translation b^ MSS., most of which are still acces-

^r DermoiC O'Connor, in which it sible. The publication of the work

^ bitherto appeared before the so edited would be a valuable addi-

^inh public. In 1857 a new and tion to Irish historical literature,

■wb better translation, by Mr. • Life. Lib. iii. c. 1. ap. Colgan,

Jo^ O Mahony, was published at Triad, TAaum,, p. 430. For the

134 Proposal of King Aedb [wthod.

Kcadng's ' It was by Aedh, son of Ainmire, was convoked the con-

account of vention of Drum-ceat, at which were assembled, as wc are
told, the nobles and ecclesiastics of Ireland. He had diree
principal reasons for calling this assembly. The first, widi
which alone we are now concerned, was to banish the bards
out of Ireland, on account of their numbers, and the unreason-
ableness and exorbitancy of their demands. For the train of
attendants upon an Ollamh * was thirty in number. Fifteen men
constituted the train of an Anrot^ that is, of the person who was
next in learning to the Ollamh. At that time almost a third of
the men of Ireland belonged to the Bardic order* ; and ftom
Samhain to BcUtaine ' they used to quarter ^ themselves on
the people of Ireland. But according to Aedh*s judgment dus
was too heavy a burden upon Ireland ; and therefore he under-
took to banish them out of the whole kingdom. He had also
another reason for banishing them, because they had made x
demand for the golden brooch that was in his mantle. For
this was a notable jewel which every king left after him to the
king who was his successor \ and it was in consequence of dieir
demanding this brooch so covetously, that Aedh had resdveA.
to banish them, and actually did expel them to Dalriada o^
Ulster.'*

antient MS. authorities on the are supposed to have been doii**^

history of the Convention of Drum- from pagan deities. ^

ceat, see Reeves, Adamnan, p. 79, * Quarter, The ori&rinal fwml »*

note c. coinn-mkiodhf from which the Eag"^

* Ollamh, This word, pron. 01- lish gave the name of Copie or Oj^

Za<i;, is explained a doctor, professor, ney to this species of oppresooi*-

teacher ot any art. It was the name Harris (Ware's Antiq. p. 77) make*

of a sort of Degree y or title given a great mistake in supposing ^*

to a poet of high attainments. See word to be derived from tne Engli^J.

O'Curry's Lectures, p. 230 sq. coin. It signifies the billeting ^

' Order, The original word is soldiers ; an exaction of food •"*

Fileadachtf bardism j from filedhy a * entertainment,* not of coin ^

bard, poet, antiquary, or genealogist. money.

See O' Curry's Lectures, p. 2, and * Ulster, Besides his ^^

append. No. i. OTlaherty adopts for the banishment of the \aS^

philosophus as most nearly equivalent King Aedh brought before the ^

to t)\t filedk or Jilt of the Irish, sembly at Dnimceat two other qU**"

Ogyg. p. 215. tions, viz.: whether the Dilriad^^

* Belltaine. i.e. from i Nov. to i of Scotland, as beinff a colony *[

May. These were the two great the Dalriadans of Ulster, were f^

heathen festivals of Ireland, which liable to pay tribute to the kinf ^

are not altogether without observance Ireland ; and also whether ScanU*^

e\'cn to the present day. Samhain chieftain of Ossory, was not lial'J^

was the first day of winter; Belltaine to tribute also. The kings of V''

the first day of summer. The names ster, partly from their sympathy wit^

] to expel the Bards from Ireland. 135

Our author then goes on to mention some
other instances of attempts made to expel the
bards, which we need not stop to notice, as the
narradre contains nothing to our present pur-
pose. It will be seen, however, that the account
we have quoted makes no accusation against the
order of any corruptions of Christianity, although
it is almost certain that erroneous opinions were
maintained, at least by some of them. The
main cause which induced the king to desire
their expulsion was a political one — namely, the
great numbers of their retainers, their intolerable
exactions, and, especially, their claim to the
right of billeting themselves and their followers,
upon the peasantry and nobles, for the winter
half of the year. If there be any truth in the
statement that one-third of the whole population
of the country was connected with the Bardic
order, the exercise of such a privilege was a
hurdcn intolerable indeed.

59. It is clear that the saints of the second The bards
order were not in favour of the king's proposal b^the
to banish or suppress the bards. Columclllc, i|^^.
Jnd the clcrg}' who were with him, resisted that J^^^^
proposal at the Convention of Drumccat, and
advocated the more moderate measure of limiting
their numbers and curtailing their privileges.

<k Diimdans ^^^ i»rtly from clincd to adjudicate on the Dalriadic

*Wir jealousy of the tuprrme king que%tion,whirh w;l^ decided in favour

^ Irtbad, took part with the bards of Aedh, Columha,if hit biograpbcn

f*>*< Aedh ; and St. Columba are to he depended upon, teenu to

^ffcan to have been against him on have contrived to render this deciiion

|"<W three <)ue»tion« brought be- practically null.
^ tie meeting. Although ne de-

1^6 The Bards protected hy St. Columba. [ucnoD.

The compromise that was agreed to was that
certain lands should be set apart for the endow-
ment of the Bardic order. Each king and
chieftain was to maintain an oUamh attached
to his court, and the ollamhs, out of the lands
assigned to them, were to maintain the inferior
members of the order, as well as their own
special retinue. The oUamhs were boimd also
to open schools and give instruction in history,
antiquities, and all other branches of learning
then known in Ireland. This prudent measure
relieved the people from the oppressive claim of
Coyney^ or billeting, and had an obvious tendency
to diminish the number of retainers attached to
each oUamh.^

It promoted also the views of the clergy, by
requiring the ollamhs to open schools, in whicb
no doubt the influence of the 'saints of the
second order' soon became predominant, ax^^
the infidel or heretical teachers of the day we*^^
effectually discountenanced. O'DonnelP d^'
fends the conduct of St. Columba in thus r^'
sisting the destruction of the Bardic order, t^
Dudes of explaining at some length the various duti^
wdcn*^**" which they had inherited from the antiei —
Magi, or Druids, of pagan Ireland. They w(
antiquarians or historians, he says, as well
poets ; it was their duty to record the deeds c^
the kings, chieftains, and heroes; to describe
their battles and victories ; to re^stcr th^

* Ollamh, Sec Keating, under the ' O'DormelL Vit. Columb«, lib- -

reignofAedh,sonofAinmire,in con- iii. cap. s. ; ap. Colgan. TruuL
tinuation of the passage just quoted. TAaum, p. 430.

] Hostility to the Clergy in the Court. 137

genealogies and privileges of noble families, to-
gether with the bounds and limits of their lands
or territories. These were useful and important
functions, and although the bards were guilty of
promoting great dissensions amongst their re-
spective clans, by extravagant panegyrics and
equally extravagant lampoons, Columba was of
opinion that a reformation of the abuse might
be obtained without an entire extirpation of the
ordcr^ which would have depyved the country
of their really useful services as historiographers
and instructors.

60. There seems to have been a party hostile H<»tiiityto
to the clergy in the very court of King Aedh. in the
His queen *^, we are told, instigated her eldest KingAedh.
son, Conall, to insult Columba and his atten-
dant clerics. The young man caused some of
his followers to fling mud upon the clergy as
they entered the assembly of Drumceat. Co-
lumba, we arc told, rang his bells, and solemnly
cursed' the prince, who was thenceforward
stricken with fits of idiotcy or insanity^, and

* Ordir. Ercn so late as the i ith strong. O'Donnell says : * Provocatus
^tmxvf the Anglo- Irish, in their Christi famulus, jussis prius sociis
^«wnof Kilkenny, denounced the cuncta sua tintinnabula pariter in di-
^Jnls under the name of * Rimers.' rum, et imprecationis, et appellati
^Haidiman*»5'/tf/.<j/Xiil/«wy,p.55, justi Judicis signum, pulsare j Co-
^^^inbed in vol. Ii.of ' Tracts relat- naldum quern jam audierat tantae
'^to Ireland' (Irish Archxol.Soc.). improbitatisincensorem,maledictionc
5**littpearealw makes frequent allu- fen it ; et ex tunc rcpii exspem et
*■ tothe Irish Rhymers. See a paper mentis impotem, qualis mox evasit,
^dtetoitborof this work, in the 'Pro- futurum pnrdixit.' — Ibid.

"■fiop of Royal Irish Academy.* * Ituanity, Hence the bards gave

* ^e9. So says Keating. But Conall the nick-name of Conall
O'Doonell attributes the instigation Clugach, or Conall the mad j and
^ t^ king himself. Vit. Columbar, several Bardic fiaions were written
^ "» f 5. The ant ient authorities on his insanitv.— See Colgan, TV.
**?t*rt Kcatinf . T-*., p. 45i» col. 2, note 5. Book of

* CmtuJ, Thk word is not too Hjmnj, p. 88 if.

T38 The Am bra Coluimcille. [imoD.

excluded from the succession to the crown.
His mother also and her waiting maid were
transformed into two herons ; condemned to
stand for ever, watching for their prey, at the
ford of the river near Drumceat.

On the other hand, Domhnall, a younger
son of King Aedh, then a mere boy, rose up to
meet Columba, kissed him with reverence on
both cheeks, and resigned to him his own scat
For these marks of respect he received the saint's
benediction, who prophesied that he should live
to reign over Ireland ; that he should survive all
his brothers, never fall into the hands of his
enemies, and die in a good old age, of a natural
death, in his own house, and on his own bed,
surrounded by his relatives and friends.^ This
latter blessing very rarely fell to the lot of an
Irish king in those days.
The Amhra 6 1 . lu rctum for thc services conferred upon the
or^Et'^'on' Bardic order on this occasion by St. Columba,
stcoiumba. ^.j^^ ^j^j^f p^^^ ^^ ollamh of Ireland composed ^

poem in his praise. This poem is supposed to ^
the same which is entitled Ambra Colulmcllf^^
* The Elegy or Panegyric on Colum-cillc/ a^^
is still extant. It is in a very antient dialc^
of thc Irish language^ and is in all probabili'^
genuine. Its author, Eochaidh Dalian, or tt^
blind, called also Eochaidh Forgaill, and Dall^i^
Forgaill, from his mother Forchell, was descends

* Friends. Adamnan, lib. i. c.io; capable of reading it; he calls it

cd. Reeves, pp. 36, 37. work, <hodie paucis, usque pcriti^

" Language. Even in Colgan's simis pcnetrabue.*— ^r//.^if.p. 304^

time there were few Irish scholars note 12.

don of it.

wTtoo] Virtue of Its Recitation. 139

from Colla Uais, monarch of Ireland in the fourth
century, and is said to have been uncle ^ or, more
probably, first cousin of St. Mocdhog of Ferns.
He was, therefore, young at the Convention of
Drumceat, although recognised as the chief poet,
and head of the antiquaries and historians of Ire-
land. He is honoured as a saint in the Irish
calendar on the 29th of January^ a fact which
proves that the profession of Bardism was not re-
garded as necessarily inconsistent with the highest
Christian honours.

Great virtues were ascribed to the mere reci- yirtuetcon.
tation of the Ambra CoIulmclUe. This super- Afrepeti-
stition appears to have existed even in the times
of Adamnan^, who speaks of certain poems in
the Scotish language in praise of Columba, and
in commemoration of his name, the repetition
of which was efficacious to deliver even ungodly
murderers from the hands of their enemies.
There can scarcely be a doubt that this is spoken
of the Ambra CoIulmclUe.

If in the days of Adamnan such a story was be-
lie\cd, it seems more than probable that this kind
of superstition was tolerated, if not encouraged,
by the saints of the second order ; who may have
thought themselves justified in the attempt to
avail themselves in this way of the influence of

' VmcU. See Colgan, ih. note 8. ' Adamnan. Vit. Columbx, lib.

* Tamuaj, Colgan has published i. r. i (Reeves, p. 17). O'Donncll,

* iifc of him on that day, \b. p. 203. who, of course, amplifies all this,

Hi. rume, however, docs not occur understands Adamnan to speak of

•3 fht antiem metrical calendar of the Amhra ColuimcUU in this passage.

Ata|ru*; but onlv in the more re- — Vit. S. Columbar, iii. c. 67 (Col-

'njf raicndam of 'I'amlacht, Marian gan, Tr. TA., p. 444).
^J CMjnnan, and Donegal.

140 Poem In honor of St. Ftnntan. 0

the bards to undermine the Druids with
own weapons.
Hymn in In the Life of St. Finnian^ of Clonardl

prawe of St. ,,/.,,.

Finnian. have the tol lowing Story : — 1

^ Another time, also, there came a bard *, named (|
to St. Finnian, having with him a magnificent poem, ini
many of the virtues of the saint were celebrated ; and |
poem he demanded not gold or silver, or any worldly su' ^
but only fertility of produce in his lands. The wor
the Trinity answered him and said, '' Sing over
hymn which thou hast composed, and sprinkle thy \
that water." When the bard had done this, his land
fertile, even to the present day.*

Legends like this savour a good deal d

magical ideas of Paganism ; and it would b|

to quote many other instances of the existeii

similar superstition in antient times. Iti

tinues indeed in Ireland to the present da^

is by no means peculiar to Ireland. Wcl

alluded to it here only to show that the ba|

the sixth century, the age of the second \

of Irish saints, were not as a body under th|

of the Church. ;

pebpamnn 62. Thc Lifc of St. David, of Moi

BrittinTn"* speaks of Pelagianism^ as a prevalent hcrti

st*i2^ It^is time in Britannia. He is reprcsent|

having attended a synod at a place called Hi

or Brefi, in Cardiganshire, which however apj

« Fimmiam. Colgan, ifr«..y5. (ij • Peiagiamim, Vit. S.

Feb.) p. 395, cap. 5. cap. 23, ap. Colgan. AcH^

• j1 bard. • Carminator nomine Mart.), pp. 428-9.
Gcmanu«.* ThU Grmanun was a * Bre*vt. So ays GtrmMl

Chri<^tian, and one of St. Columba's brrn&is, fi>« S, DiPuid, Ijj

instructors, if he be the same as the (ap. H. Wharton. Aiigliil

GtmMOMMj mentioned by Adamnan ii. p. 63S), and coinp. Rcc%

ii. c. 25 (Reeves, p. 137, note J,) Saints, p. 19a, note.

i

imool] No Pelaglantsm In Ireland. 141

to have partaken more of the nature of a parlia-
ment, inasmuch as the kings, princes, and lay
nobles of the country, as well as bishops^ and
other ecclesiastics, were present. To this synod
David preached, and the result was the entire
abandonment of the heresy, and an unanimous vote
of the assembly that David should be archbishop
of the province. Being thus clothed with the
highest ecclesiastical jurisdiction, he shortly after
summoned another synod, in which certain
canons were* regularly drawn up, and imposed
upon all the churches under his obedience by
a mandate under his own hand. These synods
wc dated by Ussher^ a.d. 529.

There is no evidence, however, that Ireland No evidence
^as at this time infected with Pelagianism, or um m inT
that Gildas was sent for to oppose that heresy ^J!'**"
in particular. It is true that about a century
later, when Tomene, or Tommian, MacRonain
Has Bishop of Armagh, a letter appears to have Letterofthe
been addressed by him and some other bishops dergyto
and clergy to the Bishop of Rome, on the subject A^h
of Easter. The letter itself no longer exists ; '^'*' ^^
but Bcde^ has preserved a fragment of the answer

* BijAw^i. The life published by JbU. p. 431, note 17. This is the

C<iigiii tay^ 1 1 8 bishops ; a number very peculiarity of the Irish or

»iiirh, however incredible, Coigan Scotic Church, which he elsewhere

««icaTour^ to reconcile with possi- ignores and even denies ; but wh4th

btuty by the, for him, remarkable forces itself upon us in almost every

>iimi<Mian, that in Britain as well as p^K^ of our eiclesiaNtical history.

re IrtLuKl there were at that time ' Vssher. Index Chron. in anno.

jQort bt5ihopt than episcopal see^ j • Bede, Hist. EitI. ii. 19. U»-

and he adds, ' Tunc enim non erat sher has also republished the extracts

Dxire»ium districtus ita limitati et ^iven by Bcdc j Sylloge Ep'ut. ix.

?rimrri *icut modo, et multi erant ^Works iv. p. 417). See also his

rpfw opt titubrrs quibus nullx erant GoteschaUi et PrejUstin. contriyversiat

<iunrrir» detcnninatz vel subjectx.' — Hitt, (Works iv. p. i sq.).

i^Z Letter from the Roman Clergy [umiox)

to it, which the Roman clergy, in the vacancy of
the see, addressed to their Irish brethren. Pop^
Severinus had shortly before died, and his suc-
cessor, John, had been elected, but not conse-
crated. The letter is in the name of Hilary,
archdeacon, guardian^ during the vacancy of the
holy Apostolic see ; John, the deacon. Bishop
of Rome elect, ' in Dei nomine electus ;' John,
the primiceriuSy also a guardian of the see ; and
John, * servus Dei,' i.e., most probably, the repre-
sentative of the regular or monastic clergy, coun-
sellor (conciliarius ejusdem sedis). This enables
us to date this document exactly ; for Pope
Severinus died on the ist August 640, and his
successor, John IV., was consecrated on the 24th
December following. The letter was therefore
written in the interval.
Attributes In reference to the Pelagianism attributed to
to th^iruh. the Irish in this document, the Roman clergy
say^, * And this also we have learned, that the
poison of the Pelagian heresy has of late revive^
amongst you.' These words seem to imply th^t
this was not the first time that Ireland h^^
been infected with Pelagianism, and also that tt^^
Roman clergy had heard of its revival, not froS^
the communication made to the late Pope b^J
Tomene and his associates, but from some oth^^
source of information.

This inference, however, so far as the use <T^
the word ^ revive' is concerned, cannot be abso^

* Guardian : i.e. apparently guar- ^ Say. * Et hoc quoque cogno'

dian of the temporahties. viinus,quod virus Pclagianae hereseof

apud vos dcnuo reviviscit.* — Bede^ ib.

] to the Irish Bishops and Clergy. 143

liitcly relied on. The heresy may have been
spoken of as reviving in Ireland^ after having been
effectually crushed elsewhere, without our being
compelled of necessity to conclude that it had
ever before existed in Ireland. And the context
does not support the conclusion : for the authors
of the letter go on to speak of Pclagianism as
having been condemned, and for two hundred
years suppressed and buried elsewhere ; and they
therefore exhort the Irish clergy ^ not to permit
the ashes of those whose weapons are burned
everywhere else to revive amongst them.*^ Still
it is evident that the Roman clergy believed the
Pelagian heresy to have shown itself again at
that time in Ireland. Of this, however, we find
no evidence elsewhere. The evils of the Church
of Ireland, spoken of in the documents we have
quoted, and especially in the Life of Gildas, are
not described as Pelagianism, or any other heresy
properly so called, but as a disorganisation of
discipline, a dissolution of morals, a partial apos-
tacj- from the faith, a return to the superstitions
of paganism.
6?. And this view of the subject is supported irUhcond-

L- V i- 1-11 1 liarlegitU-

oy the fragments which have come down to us, tion .mi-
of the conciliar legislation and canons attributed oudas.
to Gildas during his missionary labours in
Ireland. The following are given in the collec-
tion of Irish canons, already spoken of, from
which D'Achery has published extracts" : —

* Jmamgit tkem, * Nc quorum anna ' Extracts. Spicileg. vol. i. p. 493

f'si&biutta Mint, apud vo» corum cin- sq. (folio cd.)
«?w uncitcntur/ — Ibid.

144 ^^^ Canons attributed to Gildas [m-nt^'^

* Priests and bishops have a terrible Judge, to whom, and r^^
to us, it appertains to judge them, both in this world and in c-^^
next. It is better that we should not judge our fellow bishor^
and our fellow abbats, as well as our fellow subjects.' — ^Lib. ^
c. i. 15.

* Abstinence from bodily food is useless without charity*^ -
[This canon goes on to censure extravagant abstinence fto^^*
food : urging that from the heart are the issues of life, sum ^
that our first object should be to have a clean heart before GocS •
Extreme asceticism generates spiritual pride, &c.] — Lib. xiL c.^ '

^ Truth has charms for a wise man, no matter from whos^
mouth it proceeds.* — Lib. xxii. c. i.

^We should fear how we withdraw ourselves from om^
princes [i.e. from our bishops or abbats] for light faults : fi^^
Aaron, when he blamed Moses on account of his Ethiopitf^
wife, was punished in the leprosy of Miriam.' — Lib. xxxvi*

c. 5-

' Let every one continue in the calling wherein he wa^
called : so that neither a superior (primarius) should change his
condition without the assent of his subjects : nor a subject \p^

moved to a higher place without the counsel of his elder.'

lb. c. 31.

^ If a monk has any superabundance of secular goods, it
should be accounted luxury and riches ; but what he is cosi*
pelled to have by necessity, and not of self-seeking, that he may
not ^1 through want, should not be considered in him as
wrong.* — Lib. xxxviii. c. 5.

^ An abbat who is lax ought not to prohibit his monk fiom
seeking a stricter rule.* — lb. c. 6.

[Monks flying from a lax to a more perfect discipline, and
whose abbat is irreligious or immoral, and unfit to be admitted
to the table of the saints, may be received even without the
knowledge of their abbat. But those whose abbat is not ei^*
eluded from the table of the saints, ought not to be received-
How much more those who come from holy abbats, wb^'^
only fault is that they possess cattle, and ride in chariots, either
from the custom of the country, or because of infirmity.] * ^^
these things are less injurious, if they are possessed in humility
and patience, than labouring at the plough, and driving staked
into the earth with presumption and pride.* * When the shipi*
wrecked let him swim who can swim.' — lb. c. 7.

■moBi] not directed against Heresy. 145

Lib. L c* 6 relates to the Tonsure. [It is very obscure, and
the text corrupt. For our present purpose it will suffice to
mention the subject of it.]

Lib. fadv* c. 8 [professes to be an extract from the Epistles
ofGiUis. It b entitled * Of them who think themselves
rigiiteous, but are not.']

These canons, it will be seen, relate all to
ecclesiastical order and discipline, or to morality,
not to heresy. But until the whole of this
collection is revised, by a careful collation of the
MSS., and published without mutilation, we
cannot rely much upon its testimony. D'Achery
may have omitted many things that to him seemed
of no interest, but which would be most impor-
tant in reference to the question now before us.
So far as they go, however, the canons attributed
to Gildas in this document confirm the opiryon
that heretical doctrines, properly so called, were
not the class of errors to which his reforms
were directed.

Martenc^ found another MS. of the Irish
canons in Rouen, and has printed some extracts,
selecting canons which D'Achery had over-
looked, or which perhaps were not to be found
in his manuscripts. The Rouen MS. appears to
have belonged to the monastery of Fiscan, in
Normandy, and is supposed by Martenc to have
been written in the eleventh century. From
this codex he has published twenty penitential
canons* attributed to Gildas. They make no

' Mmrtemt. Thraur. Nov. Anecd., have seen ^ince this sheet was in the

tOB. hr. p. I. There is a MS. con- printer's hands), in the Valliccllian

tumiag apparentlv another copy of Library in Rome.

tick coUcctioo of Canons (which I ' Camons, Ibid. col. 7.

L

146 The Second Order of Saints [omo^

mention of Pelagianism, or any other heresy
they are occupied for the most part in definini
the duration and manner of the penance to b
imposed on gross offenders, and especially ecck
siastics ; and if the offences described are to b
taken as in any degree an index of the moral stat
of Ireland at the time, the words of the abbe:
Hildegardis are fully borne out, that crimes wei
then common which made men resemble beast
rather than rational and moral beings.
Conclusion. Ou thc wholc, wc may safely conclude fror
the foregoing authorities that a state of disci
ganisation, a relaxation of discipline, and vcr
probably some erroneous if not heretical opinion
were prevalent in Ireland in the age when th
second order of saints is said to have flourished
And there is reason to suspect that our im
perfect information, as to the nature of thos-
opinions, arises mainly from the fact that docii
mcnts have been suppressed, and those that hair
not been suppressed mutilated, or altered, unde
the mistaken idea that a concealment of sue
scandals was n'ecessary, for the glory oi God dX\
of His Church, or for the honour of the countr
The second 64. That the saints of the second order w^
sainto Miied belicvcd to havc had for their mission the cC
PrUyters. rcctiou of somc sort of heretical doctrines,
intimated perhaps by the author of the Cat
logue, when he calls them * the second ord<
of Catbolic Presbyters' — Catholicorum Presbj
terorum. And that somc distinction of this kin
was introduced by them, or their followers, i

wTtoo.] called * Catholic Presbyters.'' 147

assuming the title of Catholic, appears also from
the language used by the biographer of St. Moed-
hog, when describing the ordination of that pre-
late as chief bishop to the King of Leinster. After
mentioning the offerings and land which King
Brandubh gave toSt.Moedhog,and the monastery
built at Ferns, which became the burial-place of
the saint himself as well as of Brandubh and his
successors, our author proceeds : * Then a great
city arose there in honour of St. Moedhog, which
was called by the same name, viz., Ferns ; and
a great synod having been afterwards summoned
in the territory of Lrcinster, King Brandubh,
with the laity and clergy, decreed, that the arch-
bishopric of all the men of- Leinster should for
<^vcr be in the city and see of St. Moedhog.
Then was St. Moedhog consecrated archbishop
by many Catholics.'^

Wc have already mentioned the * twelve
apostles of Ireland,' disciples of St. Finnian of
Clonard. It is not quite clear why they were
piven that name. St. Patrick, the great apostle
of Ireland, was not of their number. They were
all of the second order of saints. Only one
amongst them, \'iz., St. Columba of Hi, appears
to have gone forth to preach to a heathen land.
All the rest seem to have settled in Ireland.*
They were, therefore, apostles to the Irish only

* CMiktSa, * Et tunc Sanctus already made on the use of the
^Accdog a roultU Catholicis ron>e- word Archbishop in this passage :
"Vtt» e^ arrhiepiscopus." Fit. S, supra^ p. 14 sq.
^Joa (31 Jan.), cap. 285 Colgan, ' Ireland. See the list of them

i-» IS., p. 21 1. See the remarks given above, p. 99, note i.

L 2

148 The Twelve Apostles of Ireland. [mnoD-^

And if so, the Irish must have been regardec=J
as having almost relapsed into their origiiuu H
paganism.

Why so But it is probable that there may have been.

""*^ another reason for the title. The 'twcher
apostles of Ireland ' appear to have formed them —
selves into a kind of corporation, and to have?
exercised a sort of jurisdiction or superintendence
over the other ecclesiastics or ' saints ' of their"
times. They w^ere especially jealous of the
right of sanctuary which they claimed for their"
churches. It w^as in consequence of a violatiorB.
of this right, that Columba instigated the war"
with King Diarmait, and that Tara w^as dc —
nounced * by St. Ruadan of Lorrha, the twch'^
apostles of Ireland, and all the other saints of
Ireland.'^ Domhnall, King of Ireland in 636, is
represented as sending for the twelve aposdes,
^ in order to bless and consecrate ' the banquet
of Dun-na-ngedh, and avert the curse* pro-
nounced upon it by Bishop Ere of Slaine. This
is indeed an anachronism, as Dr. O'Donovan
has shown ; but it may possibly mean that the
successors^ of the original twelve, in their tc-
spective Churches, were still regarded as the
' apostles * of Erinn. At all events, it is an i^^'
stance of the popular belief in a sort of jurisdicti^^
or supremacy resident in the 'twelve apostle*

' Ireland. Banquet of Dun-na- St. Ruadan of Lorrha, which he ^^^'^

ngedh and battle of Magh Rath, p. 5 scnted to give up, on the TtSfi^

(Irish Arch. Sot., 1841). strancc of the saints of Ireland in^

* Curse. Ih. p. 27. through St. Finnian of ClaaV^^

5 Successors. lb. Note B. p. 317. may have some conncctioii with thi^

The story of the miraculous tree of subject. See above, p. taiyOote i>

«»•] Tenure of Land in Ireland. 149

this case, however, we are told that they
crc not able to avert the malediction, because
ic feast had been already tasted, and the penalty
Ircady incurred, before they were called upon
) undo the evil.

65. There are some other peculiarities in the Law, ,
rish episcopal and monastic system, which appear trnttre^
5 have had their origin in the laws which
cgulated the tenure of land, and the relation
ct^iccn chieftain and clansman, or vassal, in
ucicnt Ireland. The land granted in fee to
it Patrick, or any other ecclesiastic, by its ori- Righti of
[inal owner, conveyed to the clerical society of wah^
*hich it became the endowment, all the rights ^cielarticai
f a chieftain or head of a clan ; and these ^*"*****'**-
?hts, like the rights of the secular chieftains,
tended in hereditary succession. The com-
. or co-arb, that is to say, the heir or suc-
)r of the original saint who was the founder
c religious society, whether bishop or abbat,
nc the inheritor of his spiritual and official
ncc in religious matters. The descend-
1 blood, or ' founder's kin,* were inheritors
temporal rights of property and chieftain-
though bound to exercise those rights in
on or subordination to the ecclesiastical

:urlous histor)*^ of the foundation of the FoQn<uck>o
of Ath-Truim, now Trim, in the buho^k of
>f Mcath, will Illustrate this. It is told "^"^

b. Ardmarh. fol. 14. original, with a translation, in the
v%ill be given in the Ap}H:ndix B. to this Introduction.

150 History of the Foundation [wtilod.

in the antient notes on the Life of St. Patrick,
preserved in the Book of Armagh^, a manuscript
of the ninth century.

St. Patrick had landed at the mouth of the
Boyne, and proceeded up the country, leaving
his nephew and disciple, Lomman, to take care
of the boat in which he had sailed, with di-
rections to wait for him forty days. At the end
of that time, his master not having returned,
Lomman waited forty days more, and then pro-
ceeded up the river to a place called Ath-Truiin>
or 'the ford of Trim.'^ There he presented
himself at the house of Fedlimid, or Pheliit^*
son of Laogaire^, King of Ireland. He was hos-*
pitably received, as a matter of course. Tb^
next morning Fortchem, the son of Fedlimid
overheard Lomman reciting the Gospel, and w^^
so struck with what he heard, that he embracer^
Christianity, and was baptised. Lomman, i^
appears, was a Briton, or Welshman, son ^^
Gollit*; and Fortchern's mother was of tf*^
same country : finding her son with the strange^^'
she rejoiced when she perceived that they wc^

' Armagh. This valuable MS., tive of Drom or Dnim, tigiiifi^=^
by the liberality of his Grace the long low hill : dorsum.

Lord Primate of Ireland, is now ' Laogaire, Pronounced

in the library of Trin. Coll. Dub- was son of Niall of the

lin. It will shortly be published by hostages, and was King of Ird

Dr. Reeves, with sucn notes and according to 0*Flahcrty'i Chrors:'^

illustrations as he alone is capable of logy, a.d. 428 to 463. (hyg'i

compiling. The attempted publi- 429. See Geneal. Tables, Appc

cation ot a portion of it, many years A. to this Introduction, p. 251.

ago, by Sir Wm. Bctham, in his * Gollit, Perhapus Goliath. 1^-^

•Irish Antiqu-irian Researches,' is rerca, sister of St. Patrick, is slid

so full of errors as to be quite use- have been his mother. See Colgai:^^

less. conjectures on the name GoUity A£^^

* Trim. The word Truim, geni- SS,^ p. a6a, n. 13.

omioo.] of the Church of Trim. 1 5 1

British, and she also became a Christian. She
forthwith communicated with her husband Fcd-
Vimid, whose mother Scothnoe, having been also
British, he was able to address Lomman in the
Welsh language. The result was that the w hole
family were converted to Christ, and Fedlimid
dedicated to Lomman and Patrick, and to Fort-
chem, his son, who appears to have become at
once an ecclesiastic, all his territory and pos-
sessions at Trim, together with all his substance,
and hU clan or progenies.

After this Fedlimid crossed the Boyne, and
settled in the district called by our author Cloin
Ldf^fft, or the plain of Leinstcr. Lomman and
Fortchcrn remained at Trim until St. Patrick
returned to them, when they built a church,
which was founded, we are told, tw o and twenty
years before the Church of Armagh.

66. It is impossible to doubt that this story ThepatrUr-
was told with a purpose, and that it was in- of chr/f^n
tended to prop up certain pretensions of the ^^*[I^/
Church of Armagh. But it may have been [|,"**^*^"{^"
founded in fact : there is nothing impossible in **^<^*^ •"*^-
It: and the original form of it makes no mention
of the miracles with w hich the later biographers
of St. Patrick have adorned it. Our present
concern with it, however, is only to call at-
tention to the manner in which Fedlimid is
said to have made over his property for the en-
dowment of the Church, which no doubt was
in accordance with the practice of the age in
which the author of the legend lived. It will

152 The Rights of Cbieftainry [diteod'

be observed that he gave to the ecclesiastics anc

to his son, as being of their society, not only hi.

lands and their appurtenances, but also his cla

or 'progenies/ that is to say, his patriarcha

rights, as a chieftain, over his followers.

Death of The story goes on to say, that after some yc

"°**"' Lomman, finding his end approaching, set offt«

visit his brother Broccaide, who was abbat, (^

bishop of Imleach-Each, in the barony of Cosi

tello. County of Mayo. There Lomman died

and in his last moments, calling Fortchem, ir

sisted upon his undertaking the government f^^

the Church of Trim, as its bishop. To th»-s

Fortchern objected. If he became bishop the

clesiastical and civil chieftainship would be cor

bined in his person, and he feared lest it shoul— ^

seem as if he was taking back to himself th -^

gift which his father had made to the Church^**

However, he was compelled to yield to the eames^ ^

injunctions of his master, and immediately aftc ^

set out for Trim. The journey, we are told, oc— ^

cupied three days ; and Fortchem, still retaining

his scruples, lost no time, after he had reachec^

home, in resigning his office, to which on^

Cathlaid, a pilgrim, was forthwith appointed.

His iuc- Our author then proceeds to give us the two-

cwXins fold line of succession which was kept up in this

blshoM." Church to his own times. And it is remarkable

that he calls both lines the progenies or clan of

Fcdlimid, implying that the bishops, as well as

the lay chieftains, were all of the same family.

So that Fortchern's scruple seems to have had

rmoD.] conveyed with the Lands. 153

^ference to himself, as chieftain by hereditary
Lght, and not to the other branches of the
a^mily, who could lay no such claim to the
hieftainry.

The bishops, who are styled ' ecclesiastica pro-
enies Fedelmtheo,' the ecclesiastical clan or
'escendants of Fedlimidy — are then enumerated.^
^ And these,' ^ says our author, ' were all bishops
ind princes (or chieftains) venerating St. Patrick
ind his successors.' In other words, they be-
longed to the first order of saints, and gave
allegiance to the Church of Armagh ; and we
may infer incidentally that this was not then
universally done, or else it would not have been
here so particularly mentioned in especial praise
of these bishops.

It will be noticed that Cathlaid, the pilgrim cathiaidthe
to whom Fortchern resigned the Church, is not p*^*™°*
nientioncd in the list. From which we may
conclude, either that he is to be identified with
'Aedh the great,' whose name immediately fol-
lows that of Fortchern, or else that he was not
a bishop^, but only an abbat, who governed the
Wse as co-arb, Fortchern continuing to reside

^ Enumerated. See the names, * Episcopum nationeBritannum,'but

Append. B, p. 261. without any authority. Actt. SS., p.

Thgse, " Hii omnes episcopi 365, col. i. Even Jocelin, whose

™ttnnt et principes venerantes Sane- words he cites, calls him simply pe-

^ Patricium et successores ejus.' regrinusy but adds *genere Britanno.*

^b.Ardm., fol. 14. The word/f7»- The Book of Armagh has pere-

^^^ is frequently applied to a bishop grinus only. His bemg called a

or abbat in the Collection of Irish pUgrimy or as Colgan understands

^ons, published by D' Achery, it, a Briton, militates against identi-

^ already frequently quoted. fying him with * Aedh the great,'

^ficil.i.p. 495 (ex libr. xviii. c. 6), whom the Irish genealogies repre-

p. 499 (ex Ubr. xxxvi.). sent as the nephew of Fortchern.

* Bishop. Colgan calls him Sec Append. A. Table iii., p. 252.

154 -Et;/7 results of the System. [nmi

there, in subjection to the abbat, to perfor
episcopal offices.

/ We learn, from another authority^, that Ae<
the great and Aedh the less were brothers, ai
the sons of Fergus, Fortchern's younger brothe
Ossan^ was also a descendant of Laoghaire, s(
of Niall. Of the other names in the list nothii
is at present known ; but it is more than pr
bable that further research may prove them al
to have been of the same family.
Aneccicaias- The lay dcsccndauts of Fedlimid, 'plebil

tical, as well . . , . . • i • i

as a lay progeuics cjus, arc also given m this document

bJSi^^'f "the There was therefore a twofold line of successioi

foimder*. ^j^^ ccclcsiastical and the lay progenies^ both coi

nected in blood with the original founder, (

donor of the lands; those of the lay line su(

ceeding each other in hereditary descent, fix)i

father to son.

Tendency of lu Hi, as Dr. Rccves has shown, thci

to*throJthe was no lineal or lay succession, as at Trin

wcc^on" Armagh, and other places, although the earl

J^dl!^ abbats, with scarcely an exception, were all of

branch of the Tirconnell family.* But the ter

dency of the system was obviously to throw tl

ecclesiastical succession into the hands of the h

succession, and so to defeat the object of the foui

der by transferring the endowment to the laitj

and this is what we find to have actually taki

» Authority. The Sanctilog, Gen- logical Table of the Abbats of :

eal. Book of Lecan. and his valuable remarks, in hb

' Ossan, See Martyrol. of Done- ditional note N, on the constitut

gal (at 17 Feb.). of the Irish Monasteries. — I

' Document. See App. B. p. 261. p. 334 sq.

4 Family. See Dr. Reeves's Genea-

umtoD.] Meaning of the Term Co-arh. 155

place. The successors of St. Comgall at Bangor,
tke successors of St. Patrick at Armagh, were for
many generations lineal descendants of the family
from which the original endowment in land had
been derived ; and especially in the case of Ar-
magh, there was no small confusion between the
temporal and spiritual successions, giving good
grounds, as we shall see hereafter, for the com-
plaint made by St. Bernard, that the spiritual
authority and influence had passed into the hands
of mere laymen^ although some of them may
perhaps have made a sort of compromise, by taking
the tonsure, and a minor degree of holy orders.

67. It will be necessary here to explain some
terms which will be of frequent occurrence in
[ the following pages.

I; We have already had occasion more than once Expianatio
to employ the vf or di comb arhyOrcomarhy^ronounctA^ comaTboi
nearly as if written co-arb. This word properly
signifies co-heir, or inheritor; co-heir or inheri-
tor of the same lands^ or territory which belonged

f-aymen, Bernard. Vit. S. Ma- dissyllable in the Irish pronun-

!i^"'*> c. 7, and see also what ciation, which is more nearly re-

Gifaldus Cambrensis has said of the presented by co-arb. Ussher is

Aobates Utici of Ireland and Wales. quite wrong in his explanation of

«««r. Camhrutf ii. 4. the word Corbe. Original of Corbes,

* lands. The word is explained &c. — Works xi. p. 430. His notion

by Colgan : * Vox autem Hibemica that Corbe, or Comharba, is a cor-

ww^oritfjvel T^d\c\tMsComh-fhorbaf niption of Chorepiscopus, is absurd.

* 9^a desumitur, derivata videtur a The word is used to denote a

f^, id est,fo» vel /f/w«/; ttforba^ secular, as well as an ecclesi-

'^ ^t, terra, ager districtus : ut ex astical, heir or successor. In the

^ocis origine Comhorbanus idem firehon Law MS. (H. 3, 18, fol.

Mt quod conterraneus, ejusdem ter- 10 b., 7r/«. CoU, Dubl.)^ we have

ne, vel ejusdem districtus.' — Trias, rules laid down for the division

Tkaum.y p. 630. The word is fre- of secular property among the

qucnriy written Corbe , by Ussher heirs of chieftains, comarbus cenn. :

and others. But it is always a and the word comarba is used

156 In what sense Bishops and Ahhats [nrmc

to the original founder of a church or monaster)
co-heir also of his ecclesiastical or spiritual di|
nity, as well as of his temporal rights.
Bishops and In the absence of diocesan territorial desif
called Co- nations this term was employed in Irish Churc
founder of history to designate the bishops or abbats who wei
OT*!lbb^ the successors or inheritors of the spiritual an
temporal privileges of some eminent saint c
founder. Thus the co-arb of Patrick was th
bishop or abbat of Armagh : the co-arb of Colum
cille was the abbat of Hi : the co-arb of Ban-
was the bishop or abbat of Cork. But this Ian
guage has led many readers and writers of Irisl
history into great mistakes. Patrick had co-arb
at Trim as well as at Armagh : Columcille hai
co-arbs at Derry, at Durrow, and at Swords, a
well as in Hi : and there is nothing in th
title itself to show whether the co-arb was ;
bishop or only a presbyter abbat, or even a lay
man : indeed, the successor of Patrick is as oftei
designated abbat of Armagh as co-arb ; and, 01
the other hand, the bishop of Rome himself i*
frequently called co-arb of Peter, and sometimes
also abbat of Rome^ showing how completclj
the abbatial and co-arban authority, implying ^

throughout to signify secular heirs. Stokes, Irish Glosses^ p. 93. Tb<

The etymology suggested by Colgan word properly signifies a co-heir, 1

is wrong. The Celtic arbe^ orbe^ joint inheritor. The ecclesia**^

orpi occurs in the signification of successor of Patrick was jwd Ari

an heir, and is cognate with the or com-arbe with him.

German erbcy and Gothic arbja. * Kome. Thus, in the Scholi

In the old language the m is never on the Martyrology of Aen^

aspirated : it is com-arbe y com-arboy the gloss on the name of S. Gregof

com-arbus ; not comh. From the same the Ureat ( 1 9 March) is f . ahh, tSm

root comes indarbad (with the ne- * abbat of Rome.*
gativc ind)y exilium, expulsio. See

were termed Co-arbs. 157

n Ireland the rank of a feudal lord of the

d chieftain over the inhabitants of the soil,

ved up, as it were, and obscured the acci-

)f a co-existing episcopal or sacerdotal

:er, in the co-arb, or spiritual chieftain.

foregoing remarks will also explain the

the term Ard-comarhy or chief co-arb,

we meet with in some passages of the

^ to denote the co-arb of a saint's principal

I : thus the ard-co-arb of Patrick would

successor in Armagh, not in Trim, or any

foundation ; the ard-co-arb of Columcille

be the abbat of Hi, not of Durrow,

s, or Derry.

: annals of Ulster, which are written in a
s mixture of Irish and Latin, commonly
y the word bareSy and occasionally also
^s'^y to translate the Irish term comarba,
arh'y and it is remarkable that the term
bs is generally used as the title given to the
)ral chieftains, who are called principes and
net sua nationis: the princes or chiefs of their
or clans^,

is is conclusive evidence that the eccle-
al co-arb y or beir of the saint who had ori-
y obtained the grant of land, was regarded

aU. See the references given ' Clans, The Irish word Clann

King, * Early Hist, ot Pri- signifies childrtn^ or descendants.

Armagh,' p. i6. The tribe being all descended from

\ceps. See Dr. O' Donovan's some common ancestor, the chieftain,

ur Masters, a.d. 752, p. as the representative of that ancestor,

the Ann. Ult., at 742, Af- was regarded as the common Father

lom the Four Masters call of the CUmn ; and they as his chil-

or abbess, is styled Domna- dren.
KLildare.

158 Contests between Co-arbs. lnmc=z

as entitled to the civil or temporal principality ,wi^^^,
all the rights primarily belonging to the princr^j
or chieftain from whom the grant of land ha</
emanated ; and as the co-arb was elected by tlic
community over whom he presided, and the chief-
tain, under certain restrictions, by the clan, there
was an obvious tendency, as has been already re-
marked, to throw the spiritual succession into the
family who were successors in blood of the founder*
Exaction of Hcncc wc find the co-arbs of saints holding
SIc(SmLb ' visitations' of the territories belonging to them,
ofaainti. ^^^ ^^^ purposc of cxactittg taxes and tribute,
after the manner of the secular chieftains : and
what was still more unclerical, two co-arbs some-
times made war upon each other, with slaughter
on both sides. Thus in the year y6^, the annaU
of Ulster and those of Tighemach and Clonmac-
nois tell us, but the fact is suppressed by the Fouf
Masters ^ that a battle took place at Arggamaint
or Ardgamain, between the family ^ or monastic
society of Clonmacnois, and the family of Durro^*
that is to say, between the co-arb of St. Ciara^
of Clonmacnois, and the co-arb of St. Columl>^
of Durrow ; who mustered their retainers ai»^
fought it out like secular chieftains. The victor^
was gained by Breasal Mac Murrough and tb^
yi/w/Vy of Clonmacnois; two hundred men of th^
family of Durrow having been killed on th^
other side, with Diarmaid Dubh Mac Donnell*

' Four Masters. The Four Mas- caused scandal at a time

tors lived after the Reformation, and were too glad to seiie upon the n

therefore they often suppress facts terials for scandal agminst the — ''

of this kind which might have state of the Church.

The ^Family'' of a Monastery. 159

lach Mac Duibhliss ; but it is not said
these were secular chieftains or ecclesias-
lected with the contending monasteries,
ire we told the cause of the quarrel.^
^he family (in Irish, muinnttr) of a The family
ry comprehended, ordinarily, the monks ormonM-''
)us inmates, but sometimes included also ^"^
10 were subject to the jurisdiction of the
: who lived as vassals, serfs, or clansmen,
lerritories of the co-arb. In some cases
ly included also those who were so con-
i ith the minor or more recently founded

houses that were under the rule of the
or subject to the principal monastery,
e abbat of Hi, or co-arb of Columba, in
nd, was the common head of the monas-

Durrow, Kells, Swords, Drumcliff, and
•uses in Ireland, founded by Columba, as
of the parent monastery of Hi ; and the

Coluim-cilley or family of Colum-kille,
posed of the congregations, or inmates and
nts of all those monasteries.^ The families,
ly of such monasteries as Clonmacnois and

might muster a very respectable body of

men. In general, however, the family
nly the monks or religious of the house .^

The words of the plunder between the families of

lis are these : * Bellum Cluanmicnois and Darmagh, ubice-

inter familiam Cluana cidit Diarmait mac Domhnaill/
t Deimaighi, ubi cecidit * Monasteries, See Reeves, Adam-

ibh mac Domhnaill et nan, p. 162, note x. and p. 342.
ac Duibhliss, et cc. viri ' House. Thus, when we read in

)ermaighi j Bresal mac the Ann. Ult., A.D. 748, that the

victor exstetit, cum fa- family of Hi were drowned, * Di-

1/ Tighernach records mersio familis lac,' we must neccs-

attle at A.D. 764, and sarily understand the inmates of the

h-argain, * a battle of monastery of the Island only.

i6o Termon Lands — Erenacbs. [umioa

Tcrmon- Thc ChuFch lands called Termon-Iands, inc

Ireland, had their name in all probability front"
the Terminty pillar-stones, or crosses set up tea
mark their boundaries, within which there 'W'a-i
a right of sanctuary, and a freedom from th
taxes and tributes of secular chieftains. Nevec—
theless their inhabitants paid rent and other tax^
to the Church, bishop, or monastery to which tb^ ^
land belonged.^ But this was probably an instS.
tution of a period much later than the times o
which we have been speaking.

Erenachsor 69. ThcErcnachs, Hcrcnachs, or in thc corrcc^
crena «. j^j^j^ orthography Atrcblnneacbs, in the primitiv ^
age of the Irish Church before the settlement c^
dioceses in the twelfth century, were most prc»^
bably the stewards whose duty it was to superiis. •
tend the lands and farms, and to collect the'rcnC::
or other tributes paid by tenants. That ErenacJt
was another name for corbe or co-arb, and that i ^
was a corruption of the word Arcbidiaconus, or o-
the word Etbnarcby are opinions which, althoug-J^
countenanced by Ussher and Ware, are wholly
untenable. Neither Ussher nor Ware had an^
knowledge of the Irish language; they were com-^
pellcd to depend upon ' poor scholars * of no grca^
learning or intelligence for everything that thcy^
quoted from the annals and other Irish records. In
a question of this kind, therefore, their authority
is very small. It is probable that the erenach was
in every case himself a tenant of land under the

' Belonged, See Ussher, Origin of Corbes, Herenachs, and Tennon-Uttb.
Works xi. p. 411 tq.

iKfTROD.] Duties of the Erenacb. i6i

co-arb;that he held his land in fee,underthe tenure
of performing certain duties; and there is no
doubt that the office was hereditary, which would
be the natural result of the sort of tenure of which
wc speak. The duties of the office were to super- hi* Duties,
iritend the farmers or tenants of the Church, or
monastery, and perhaps also to distribute amongst
the poor the alms or hospitality of the co-arb^ and
his familia.

In the more recent history of the Irish Church, Modification
affccr the establishment of archiepiscopal and ^"thc
diocesan jurisdiction, the offices of co-arb and m^ntW
er^nach underwent necessarily very considerable ^**^""-
modification. The lands and jurisdiction of the
CO— arb were transferred to the bishop : and the
dixt:ies of the erenach were dispensed with, or
transferred to the rural dean, or archdeacon.
This circumstance has been the cause of great
confusion to our historians ; even Ussher, Ware,
aad Lanigan, led away by their preconceived
opinions as to the existence of diocesan succes-
sion from the age of St. Patrick, were unable to
realise to themselves the strange state of society
indicated by our antient records, and the still
niore strange state of the Church, when bishops
^^re without dioceses or territorial jurisdiction.
Hence it is that these eminent writers took the

* Co-arb. Colgan (loc. cit.) thus the Primacy of Armagh,' pp. i8, 19.

describes the duties of the Erenach : A work well worthy of being re-

* Omnium colonorum certi districtus printed in a form more accessible to

pracpositus scu praefectus, suoque general readers, as well as more

nmiliac princeps et caput habebatur.' worthy of the remarkable learning

See also Mr. King^s * Memoir In- and research displayed in its pages.

troductory to the Early History of

M

i6z Signification of the Name. [mnoD.

modernstate of the Church, since the establishment
of dioceses, as the model of what they conceived
was or ought to have been the state of the Church
in the days of Patrick and Columb-kille, and thus
they have confounded the antient Corbes with
Chorcpiscopi, and Erenachs with Archdeacons.
The Ere- Evcn Colgan, influenced by the same prcju-
archdcacon. diccs, fcU iuto thc samc mistakes. He tells us
that the etymology of the word Aircbinneacb
was to him doubtful^; but that if it were a cor-
ruption of Arcbidiaconus it would rather have
been written Aircbidneacb. And it is a remark-
able example of the secret influence of a prgu-
dice over a mind led by the most honest inten-
tions, that although (as he admits) there is no in-
stance of the occurrence of the word in this fomcB^
in any Irish authority^ nevertheless in his Annals
of Armagh extracted from the Four Masters, whict*
follow on the same page, Colgan uniformly write ^
the word Aircbidneacb, 3,nd explains ItArcbdeacon^
Etymology Hc suggcsts also two othcr etymologies; on^
from the Greek Etbnarcb, and the other fironr^
the Irish ^ ar, super, and ceann^ caput. Thcs^

*/)m<^^«/. Colgan,7r.Ti*.,p. 293. 1061, 1069, 1103, iioS. In 9S0

•Vox Airchindeach dubiae mihi est which places the Four Masten writ^

originis etetymologicxsignificationis. Ahrchinneach^
Waraeus, de Scriptor, Htb. tradit per * IrisA, The Greek etymoloQf

of the word.

eumArchidiaconumsi|rnificari.Quod b wholly untenable. Tbc

si vcrum sit Airchidneach potius Glossary, called Cormac^s (recently

scribi dtberet/ — See also ihid, p. published, Williams and NorgatCy

631. London) f p. 4, explalni at, by

^ Authority. We find Airchui- uasal^ noble \ zna susgctts abo

neac/i and Airchindeach (nn and nd that the first syllable oTthe woid

bein^ equivalent in Irish ortho- may be from tne Greek 4f»xoc: iO

graphy) : but never Airchidneach, that Archinmech would signify

^ Archdeacon, Sec his annals, < chief, or noble head.* But this n

under the years 980, 1015, 1039, ^^^ trifling. Colgan^s Irish ctj*

iHTROD.] Colgans description of the Office. 163

both give the signification of a praefect, a supe-
rior, ^r^/>w//wj: and this signification, he remarks,
is more in accordance with the ordinary use of
the word, and with the duties which were
assigned to the office.

Those duties he then explains with great accu-
racy- 'Whatever^ be the origin of the name,'
he says, ' the airchinneach was the head prae-
positus, or supreme prefect of the ecclesiastical
territory and of the family (or monastic body)
inhabiting that territory/ In another place^ he
gives the same account of the office at somewhat
greater length : — * The Erenach (in Irish, Air-
chinneach) signified a person who was appointed
to exercise some power or authority over all
'hose who held lands and farms belonging to the
Church ; he held therefore a principality amongst
iicrh tenants : subject, however, to the bishop in
b.e same way as the comharb was; with this

nology (ar^ over, and ceann^ a head) henntg^ the three principal festivals j

s ixo doubt the true one, as is evident i. c. Christmas, Easter, and Pente-

froin the corresponding Welsh Ar- cost. It should also be mentioned

^f^ntig, where, as Zeuss has remarked that in Irish the word is sometimes

(^ram. Celt. p. 191) the initial of spelt Of>r^/Vw^f^,Ann.Ult.A.D. 604.

^c second syllable is aspirated from Airdcennachy a form which occurs

h ^ the initial of the second syllable in the Dictionaries of O'Brien and

in the Irish Airchinnech is aspi- O'Reilly, is certainly incorrect,

rated from c. This shows that the although it seems to be in use in

^t syllable is the preposition ar, or Scotland. We have no authority for

«^, tne original form of which was it in Irish.

on or are, and therefore causes as- ' Whate<ver, * Cujuscunque sit

piration in the first letter of the fol- originis, usus obtinuit ut eo nomine

Wing word. That Airchinneach appelletur Caput, Propositus, vel

is not from Archdeacon^ is evident supremus Praefectus territorii Ec-

^Tom the secular use of the term, clesiastici, et familix illud inhabi-

both in Irish and Welsh, to de- tantis.' And just before * cum per

note a chieftain or leader : and as an eam (vocem^ videamus denotari

adjective to signify chief ot principal, praefectum familiae ecclesiasticum

—Sec Irish Nennius, p. 170, note. prxdium vel territorium inhabi-

And so in Welsh, Arbennig milivyr, tantis.' — Ibid.

a leader of soldiers: y tair Givyl or- * Place, Colgan, 7r. Th,y p, 631.

M 2

1 64 The Offices of Co-arh and Erenacb [nmoD-

amongst other differences, that they alone were:^
called comharbs who presided over the distric^^
originally belonging to some celebrated anc=d
antient monastery, or at least to some episcops^J
see ; whereas they were called Airchinneachs wh^«)
held the chief place in the manner explained over- r
the other tenants of the lands or farms of som. <
Church, whether a monastery or not : and fror^n
time immemorial they were mere laymen: &«
that it is doubtful whether in their origin tl».<
dignity or office of airchinneach was annexed t^
the clerical or monastic state.' ^ After repeating
what he had said before as to the various pro-
posed etymologies of the name, he adds, ' They
were wont to exercise continual hospitality \>y
some special, and as it were hereditary obligatios^
or inclination ; but this may perhaps haV^
originated in this, that the first persons wb.^>
held the office of airchinneach were archdeacor^^ ^
of the poor, having the care of hospitality : whic ^
care, after the primitive times of the Church^'^
may have passed into the hands of mere laymen -—
Theofficet 70. No doubt Colgau had mainly in view th -^
andErenach positiou which thc comharbs or co-arbs and ere '^^'
reference to uachs occupicd iu rclatiou to the bishops, at th^ '
^^^^ beginning of the eleventh century, when th^^
necessity of diocesan and archiepiscopal jurisdic-
tion began to be felt. But making allowance for
this, his description of the offices of the co-arb
and crcnach is sufficiently correct. It will be

> State. How this agrees with was an Archdeacon^ Colgan don
the opinion that the Airchinneach not explain.

] connected xvitb the Tenure of Land. 165

:hat both offices had reference to the landed
rty with which the monastery, or collegiate
Lthedral church, was originally endowed,
co-arb inheriting the general rights of
ainship derived from the donor of the lands ;
ler with the spiritual authority and influ-
of the first abbat or bishop, who had
ed the grant, and by whom the ecclesias-
3r monastic institutions of the place were
organised. The erenach or airchinneach

himself a tenant, with a delegated juris-
n over the other tenants, held lands or

under the co-arb, with the tenure of dis-
ing certain duties. And it is evident, as
ly remarked, that, in some places at least,
•ffice of erenach was hereditary^, a custom
ver which seems to have been peculiar in a
measure to the North of Ireland.
> the antient annals of Tighernach and
s of Ulster give the Latin name of bares
e co-arb, so they usually give the name of
'ps^ to the airchinneach. The Four Mas-
living at a time when these names, with the
s they indicated, were becoming obsolete, and
funded with more modern ecclesiastical titles,

use of these terms cannot be depended

•editary. See King, * Early Saran Saobhderg, by whose insti-

f the Primacy,' p. 19, who gation Brandubh, king of* Leinster,

s the names of several fami- wa^ murdered. But the annals of

which the office of erenach Tighernach and Ulster call the same

editary, all belonging to the individual * Airchinneach of Sean-

i of Donegal and Derry. botha-sen/ i. e. of Temple shambo,

nceps. The Life of St. Co. Wexford.— Vit. S. Mocdhog.

)g gives the name of * CoOT^/ (31 Jan.) c. 37-8. Tigern. A.n.

€ and * Comes Saranus' to 605, Ult. 604.

1 66 The Ferttgbus or (Economus. [umioo.*

r
mut.

upon. They frequently confound the co-arb am
bishop, as well as the abbat and airchinneach.

71. There is, however, another officer, chiefly^
to be found in the monasteries, who is termedK
by the older annalists, and also by the Latii^
biographers of the saints, CEconomus} The Irislc:
name of this officer was Fertigbis, which literalljg
signifies ' House-man,' and denotes a steward, s^
purveyor, one whose duty it was to look afta
the domestic or internal affairs of the monastci^^
to superintend the labour of the monks, and t -^c
see that the house was supplied with fuel and a^MJ
other necessaries.

The oeconomus and the abbat are often fbum.^
in opposition to each other. We have a recor"<I
in the annals of Ulster [x.D.ySz) of an actu^
battle^ between Cathal, the abbat, and FianacfcB.-
tach, or Finatty, the oeconomus of Ferns. Aim<?
the rule of St. Columbanus^ in one place scenes
to hint that the abbat and oeconomus had separatt:^
jurisdictions, inclining strongly to support ttM
authority of the oeconomus. ' If a monk,* sa^
the rule, 'desires anything which the oeconomu
prohibits, although the abbat orders it, he mo?
do penance for five days.'

• > (Eroffo/vi/j. Sometimes also called moer inter abbatem et economi

famulus and cujtoj monastcrii. — Sec i. c. Cathal ct Fianachtach.* 7

Reeves, AJamnanfpv.4,6ffi,2md^6$, is, of course, passed over in sUi

The equonimus of tne Ann. Ult. is by the Four Masters for a re

only a variety of spelling. The already explained.
Four Masters frequently call this ^St.Columhamms, *SiquisTo'

officer prior. In general, however, aliquid ct prohibet oeconomus

ihey translate the oeconomus or equo- bet abbas, quinque dies.* — Rt

nimus of the Ann. Ult. hy Jer» Columbani^ q. 1% (Fleming, C

lights. p. 377).
^ Battle. * Bellum hi fernae

TROD.] Abuse of bis Power. 167

The oeconomus, however, sometimes abused
s power, and persecuted a youthful saint, to
hom he had taken a dislike in consequence of
le saint preferring study or devotion to manual
hour ; or for some other capricious reason.

Thus, in the Life of St. Moedhog of Ferns : st Moed-
he saint was in the monastery of St. David at JtefbJ^thc
ill-muine. The oeconomus found him reading ^°**"*"

his cell, and attacked him angrily, saying, ' Go ^^**^*«-
F^ idle fellow, after the other brethren, and
tch faggots from the wood.' This oeconomus,
ys the biographer, hated the saint without a
Luse. Moedhog, without a murmur, obeyed the
)ugh command, and went off, leaving his book
pen out of doors. The oeconomus gave him
wo unbroken oxen, without yoke or harness, to
raw his cart ; this was done from malice. But
he oxen became miraculously tame, and drew
he cart as if they had been properly harnessed,
laking a short cut across a deep bog, as if it had
een a hard road. On his return, notwithstand-
ig that it had rained heavily in the interval, St.
Moedhog found his book perfectly dry. These
'Miracles opened the eyes of St. David to the
malice of his oeconomus, who nevertheless per-
stcd in his enmity to the disciple.

He went so far at length as to plot against St.
^oedhog's life. He employed a man to accom-
^ny the saint to the wood, and to kill him
s he was stooping to lift the logs. The man
^ised his axe to slay the holy youth, but was
traightway paralysed, and unable to move his

i68 Anecdotes showing the nature [uitrod

A nmilar
anecdote of
St. Finnian
of Qonard.

And of St.
Canicc.

arms. St. David, hearing this, ran half dressed tc — i
the wood, and returned with Moedhog to th^^
monastery. He then called the oeconomiL -s
before him, and sharply reproved him. Bu^ X
Moedhog said to David his master, * FathcK:^,
chide him not, for God will chide him for us :
he shall shortly die, and no man shall know his
grave.' And this prophecy, says our author^ wcls
speedily fulfilled.

A similar story is told in the Life of St-
Finnian of Cluain-iraird, or Clonard ; he was
also in St. David's monastery : when the oeco-
nomus, for St. David seems to have been unfortix-
nate in his stewards, commanded Finnian to go
immediately to the wood, and bring home timber*
St. Finnian remonstrated, saying that he ha^
neither tools for cutting wood, nor means d^^
drawing it, and moreover that he knew not thi- ^
way. But receiving only another angry am- ^
more peremptory command, he obeyed ; an^ ^
aided by angelic guidance, he returned soonc:^^
than the other monks, and with a more amp^^^
supply of timber.'^

The same story is also told of St. Cannect"^
or Canicc, of Kilkenny. He was a student i:: -^'
Britain or Wales, in the monastery of the wis
and religious Doc or Docus. The steward, wh»
is in one place called yj/ ;;/«/« J, and immediately
after ocquofiotnuSy took a dislike to the youth fb
no other reason but because he saw him to be s^

' Author. Vit. S. Mocdoci (31 ^Timber. Vit. S. Finniani, c. 5^^

Jan.) c. ii-i8i Colgan, Actt. SS., Colgan, IbU. p. 393.
p. 109.

R.OD.] of the Office of CEconomus. 169

rourite of the abbat. One day Cannech was
ting reading, when the ceconomus c^me in
id angrily reproved him, saying, ' Tlie whole
mily (tota familia) is gone across the sea with
:en and waggons to bring home necessary goods,
) thou after them.' The saint arose to obey.
he steward gave him two untamed oxen (this
ems to have been a favourite mode of annoying

young monk), but they immediately became
sntle and manageable. When Cannech reached
le sea-shore, he found the tide was full, and the
:rand impassable. But the water miraculously
ivided itself into two parts, so that St. Cannech
massed over dry shod, and returned again the
aroe way with his loaded waggon. The abbat
€eing this, feared greatly, praised his obedient
disciple, and reproved the oeconomus.^

These stories, which exhibit a singular amount office of
^f sameness and want of invention, prove never- mL °**"
^eless, that the office of the oeconomus, or

^rttgbtSy was to see to the supply of the house
^ith necessaries. It appears also that he was
^Vested with authority over the monks, to make
^em labour for the service of the community.
*^^ was therefore naturally an unpopular officer,
v^e can scarcely help thinking, that the biogra-
^^er who inserted such a story into his Life of

Saint must at one time have smarted himself
^dcr the discipline of some strict oeconomus,
^d sought in this way to reform the whole
ody of monastic stewards.

^ CEconomus. Vit. S. Cannechi, p. 3 (Dublin, 1853, privately printed
y the Marquis of Ormonde).

170 The Maor of Armagh. \pmjx^

TheMaor 7^- Wc find mciition, in connection with
or Armagh, ^j^^ fatnUta of Armagh, of an officer called
maory who appears to have been the keeper
of certain sacred relics, such as the bell, and
book, and crozier of Armagh, and who, in later
times at least, held lands from the see, under
the tenure of producing these relics when re-
quired. As we shall probably have occasion to
speak of this officer elsewhere, it may be enough
here to say, that in the Annals of Ulster*, a.d.
gz^ [al. 929], we have the following notice of j
one of these stewards : —

Tuathal mac Oencain scripa Tuathal, son of Oencan^
[j/V] et episcopus Doimliac scribe and Bishop of Duleck
et Lusca et moer muinnteri and of Lusk, and moer of th^
Patraicc o sleibh fadhes, heu family of Patrick from tb^
immatura state quievit. mountain on the south. AU^ -

immatura aetate quievit.

And again, in the same annals^ a.d. 813 ; —

Feidlimidh abbas Cillemoin- Feidlimidh, Abbat of Cill^
ni et moer bregh o Phatraic, moinni', and iiwrr of Bregi^
ancorita precipuus, scribaque from Patrick, chief anchorir^
optimus, feliciter vitam finivit. and excellent scribe, ended \m ^

life happily.

From these brief entries we learn that thcr^
were maors or keepers for the co-arbs of PatricM^
in different places, where the family of Armagt^
had churches or landed property; and that thes^
keepers were, sometimes at least, ecclesiastics o^

' Ulster. The same entry occurs a.d. 800.
in the Four Masters, a.d. 927. ' cUumoimu. Now Kilmoone^

* Annals, See also Four Masters, Co. Meath.

iNTROD.] Ecclesiastical Tenure of Land. 171

the highest order. Besides their more sacred
duties of guarding the precious treasures of the
Church, Dr. O'Donovan thinks that they may
have also been the collectors of dues, or tribute,
payable to the Church or bishop, in the district
to which they were appointed.

y^. On the whole, it appears that the endow- Rights con-
men ts in land, which were granted to the antient thrcccL
Church by the chieftains who were first con- "enure of
verted to Christianity, carried with them the ^"'*'
temporal rights and principalities originally be-
longing to the owners of the soil ; and that these
rights and principalities were vested, not in
bishops as such, but in the co-arbs or ecclesi-
astical successors of those saints, to whom the
grants of land were originally made. It is easy
to see, therefore, that in the districts where such
lands were so granted, a succession of co-arbs
w-ould necessarily be kept up. It did not follow
that these co-arbs were always bishops, or even
priests; in the case of Kildare the co-arbs were
always females ; and there is an instance on
record, although in a different sense, of a female
co-arb of St. Patrick at Armagh. But it is
evident that the abbat or co-arb, and not the
tishop as such, inherited the rights of chieftain-
ship and property, and was therefore the impor-
tant personage in the ecclesiastical community.
Hence we have in the annals a nearer approach
to a correct list of the abbats and co-arbs, than to
a correct list of the bishops. The bishop, or

tishops, for there were often more than one

•m 6

1/2 Four anttent Lists of the [urmoo

bishop connected with the monastery, or witl
w hat afterwards became the episcopal see, wer(
in subjection to the co-arb abbat, and did nol
necessarily succeed to each other, according tc
our modern notions of an episcopal succession-

There were frequent breaks^ in the series. Thi
presence of a pilgrim or travelling bishop, whc
remained for a time in the monastery, w^ould
enough to supply the wants of the commiinit
for that time, by giving the episcopal benedic
tions; and it was not until he had left ther
that the monastic ' family ' would feel it necc
sary to provide themselves with another.
Difficulty of Considerable difficulty has therefore been
tom'lke"^ut atcd by the attempt to make out a regula
succ^bn succession of bishops in Armagh and elsewhere
or bishops. i^Yic truth is, that there was no such thinj

The names handed down to us as successors o^^*
Patrick are many of them called abbats, som^*^^
are called bishops as well as abbats, some ai^ ' '^
styled bishops only, and some co-arbs of St::::^"
Patrick. But there is nothing in this last titl^^^
to indicate whether the personage so designated::;^
was a bishop, a priest, or a layman.
Ancient 74. Four auticut lists of the co-arbs of St— --

co-ar*hVof Patrick have been preser\'ed. They all bear""^
Patrick. internal evidence of having been drawn up at ^
the close of the eleventh, or beginning of the
twelfth century, when archiepiscopal and diocesan
jurisdiction was introduced ; and it is probable

* Uriahs. Sec Reeves, E<cl. Ant. of Down and Connor, p. 136.

i

that their authors were Lnriuinctrd bv ^ \\i>h :c^
crstablbh a claim to a re^ulir eriiorr^ ?'ucce>^: :r-
at least at Armagh, and thus ro e:50ip< so in rhe
reproach of irregularity which the R~r:iin p^irtii'
amonpt the Norsemen and Enrlii-h cz rh^r
period had brought aji:n?t rh;r Ir:-h Church.

These lists difer coniiderablv. as mUhr be
expected, from each other. They dl^er ilso rrv^m
the list which mav be gathered from the Irish
Annals. But they are not on th^r account the
less valuable. Thev are here s^ven exactlv as
the}- are found in the original authorities, and
it^^ill be obscr\cd that they all terminate about
the same period : and are in fact li<ts of the co-
arhx or successors of St. Patrick, abbatial a> well
aj episcopal, who riourishcd beture the establi>h-
nient c)f metropjlitical and diocesan jurisdiction
m the twelfth centur}-.

The first li>t is that which hwis been printed by The ant
Coljran, as from the P>altair or P>alter of Ca>hel. tScpiAitn
But there can >carcely be a doubt that the true Ruh/rd
Palter of Ca^hel did not exi-t in his time, and
*har hi- real authority was the ' Psalter ^ of Mac
Richard,' now in the Bodleian Library, a manu-
^npt transcribed in 1454, by John O'Clery,
^h.> tells us that he copied tor Mac Richard
Kuclcr all such portions of the old Psaltair of
t^J>hcl as were then legible.
On the openin*: of the two patres, fol. 114 b,

f *:*':fr. Thi*. MS. U niarkid and niixtcllincnu'i divumcnt^, a<

<»ic. The %*«»n! Fsaiter nm.NN.iry ti» .m hixtori.in or man ot

** ■ ^J hy the Irl^h \n dcnntc Iturnin^ as the Psaitcris to an citIc-

* 'iThjii of hUtoriral, religious, sia^tic.

• M 7

174 P^^^f List of the Co-arhs of Patrick [n

and 115 a, of this MS. are six columns (t
on each page), which were intended to exl
contemporary lists of the Roman emperorsj
popes of Rome, the kings of Ireland (these
occupying the third column of fol. 114 b,
the first of fol. 115 a) ; as also the co-arb
Patrick, and the kings of Cashel, which fill
two remaining columns of this latter page.

The title prefixed by Colgan^ to this lis
the Armagh prelates, is ' Catalogus Primat
seu Archiepiscoporum Metropolis Ardmach?
cum annis quibus sederunt, ex Psalterio Ca
ensi.'

It is needless to say that this title is enti
his own, and has no authority from the ^
where the list is headed simply T>o Comarh
Patraicy ' Of the Co-arbs of Patrick.'

We shall now give it exactly as it is foum
the Bodleian MS., with the numbers wl
signify the duration of each prelate's incumbci
The only liberty^ taken with the original is 1
of prefixing a number to each name, for
convenience of reference.

1. Patraic. 6. Cormac ....

2. Sechnaill . . . . vi. 7. Dubtach . . .

3. Senpatraic . . . . x. 8. Ailill ....

4. Binen x. 9. Ailill

5. Jarlaithe . . . xviii. 10. Duach

^ Colgan, Tr. Th , p. 291. names. But he sometimes dif

« Liberty. Colgan has Latinized the years assigned to each pit

the names : but we have preserved incumbency. Thus in No. '•

the Irish forms exactly as in the ori- has xvi. instead of vi. In N<

ginal. It has not been thought worth vii. for viii. No. 31, xiii. for

while to mark Colean's deviations No. 40, xxix. for xxxix. The)

from the original orthography of the probably mere erron <^ the pn

from the Psalter of Mac Richard. 175

limed • .

. XX.

lian . . .

. X.

haig . .
ich. . . .

• •

• •

: Laisre .

• •

nine . .

XXXV.

ne . . . ,

xxvii.

m Febla . .

xxvii.

>nc . .

. . XV.

igus . . .

. . XX.

rpctair . .
dacrich . .

viii.

. . X.

. . iii.

>dalethe . .

. XV.

xhtach . .

. . i.

linisc . .

. . iiii.

inmach . .

xiiii.

bach . . .

i.

adu . . .

. . iii.

31. Mac Loingse • .

32. Artri . . . ,
33* Eogan Manistrech

34. Forannan . • .

35. Dermait . . .

36. Fethgna . . «

37. Anmere . • .

38. Cathasach . . .

39. Maelcoba . . • .

40. Maelbrigde Mac Tor-

nan . . "^

41. Joseph • .

42. Maelpatraic

43. Cathassach.

44. Muiredach • • •

45. Dubdalethe Mac Cel-

laig . .

46. Murecan .

47. Maelmaire.

xiiii.

• ii.

viii.

xiiii.

xxii.

• i.

. iiii.

v.

xxxix.

ix.
i.

XX.

ix.

. xxxiii.

iii.

xix.

2:an adds five more prelates to the list,
names do not occur in the Bodleian MS.,

nagadius .
Walctha .

XXX.

. . xii.

51. Moel-isa .

52. Domnaldus

mascacius .

. . 111.

XXVII.

remarks that the number of years of the
bcncy of this last prelate is not given, and
)rc he infers* that the author of the list
have written it during the lifetime of that
laid, before the year 1105, in which he
md after the year 1091, in which he suc-

'/. * Videtur authoris hujus in eo nominat, ct cujus tanquam ad-
v^ripK^ ante annum 1105, hue viventis annos regiminis non de-
Domnaldus, qucmultiinum tcnninat.'^Tr. Tk,^ p. 191.

176 Second List of the Co-arbs of Patrick, [djtiod.

ceeded to the bishopric. In any case, it is
evident that the list (which even in its shortest
form is carried down to a.d. 1021, the date of
Maelmaire'5 death) could not have formed a
part of the Psalter of Cashel, composed by the
king and bishop Cormac Mac CuUenain, who
died A.D, 908.

It will be observed that the number of yean
of St. Patrick's episcopacy is hot given^, probably
because there was some uncertainty as to the
beginning of his settling at Armagh, and also be-
cause the two or perhaps four immediately follow-
ing him were bishops along with him at Armagh
before his death. The years of incumbency arc
also wanting, after the names of Nos. 10, 14, i5>
and 1 6, probably because the author Avas not cer-
tain as to the exact duration of their prelacy.

The five names added to the list by ColgaJ^
or perhaps by his transcriber, for he himse^
evidently believed them to have been in th^
original, wxre probably taken from the secorB-
list, of which we shall now speak.
Second List y^^ The sccoud auticut list is preserved in tt^
co-arbi Leah bar Breac\ or speckled book of the M^
Egans, a MS. of the latter end of the fourtcentE"
or beginning of the fifteenth century.

* Gi'ven. The fourth list gives or great book of Dun Doigfas — '
the number of years from the ar- a fort near Athlone, which was t^
rival of St. Patrick in Ireland to antient residence of the Mac Egai^-
his death. Seep. i%o, infra. It got the name of LeAk^^

* LeahharBreac. This MS. is now Breac, or speckled book, ftom ti^
in the Library of the Royal Irish colourof its binding. SetO*CMny
Academy, Dublin. Its proper Irish LectureJ, p. 351.

name is Leabhar mor Duna Dotghrty

INTROD.]

from the Speckled Book.

^77

This List^ is headed ^ Do Chomarbaib Patraic
inso/ i.e. ' Of the Co-arbs of Patrick here ;' it is
in the Irish language, with sometimes a few words
of Latin ; and besides the years of each prelate's
incumbency (omitted in Nos. 3 and ^28), it has
several curious remarks on the personal history
of some of the individuals of the series. It is
scarcely necessary to encumber these pages with
the original; but the following translation is
strictly literal : a few notes are added ; and the
liberty has been taken of prefixing, as before, a
number to each name, to facilitate reference : —

1. Patrick, cxx™°. etatis sue

quievit.*

2. Sechnall, xiii.

3. Benen, son of Sescnen,

Patrick's psalm-singer.
He was of the Cianachta
Glinne Gaimen, of the
race of Taidg, son of
Cian of Cashel.
1-- Hiarlathi, son of Log',
xiiii.

Corbmac, xv. annis.

Dubthach, xxiiii.

Fiachra, xx. annis.

Cairellan, x. annis.

s.

6.

7.
8,

Eochaid, x. annis.

Senach, annis xv.

Mac Laisre, xiiii.

Tomine, xxxv. annis.

Segine, xxvi. annis.

Flann Febla, son of Scan-
nal ; he was the pupil*
of Berchan, son of
Mican : xxvii. annis.

Suibne in Sui *, xv. annis.

16. Congus, XX. annis.

17. Cele-Petair, viii. annis.

18. Fer-da-crioch, X. annis.

19. Foendelach, vi. annis.

20. Dubdalethi, xviii.

9-
10.

II.

12.

14.

15

E

list. Leabhar Breac, fol. 98,
°" b. [or by another pagination, fol.
*^8, b. b.]. This List was first
?>lished (in English) by Mr.

Jig ; Primacy of Armagh ^ p. 112.

* ^uie*vit. The Irish annals al-
^ys use this word to express the
^/^tcring into rest of a saint or eccle-
^'^^c. They sometimes also use
^fii(Pvity and pausatio. These
^ords are never applied to laymen.

however exalted. For this reason,
the word * quievit,' as in some sort
technical, has been here retained.

' Log. In the original, * Hiar-
lathi mac Loga,' but Loga seems to
be the genitive case.

* Pupil. The original word
Dalta signifies foster-son ; a person
brought up, supported, and educated
by another.

^ In Sui I i. e. the sage.

N

178 Third List of Co-arhs of Patrick \vmsm

21. Oirechtach, i. anno.

22. Cudinisc, iiii. annis.
Condmach, xiii. annis.
Torbach, uno anno.
Nuada, lii. annis.

26. Mac Lonsig, xiii.

27. Artri, duobus annis.

28 . Eogan mainestrech, m buti

meic Bronaig.*

29. Forandan, xiiii. annis.

30. Dermait, iiii. annis.

31. Fethgna, xxv. annis.

32. Ainmire, uno anno.

33. Cathussach, iiii. annis.

34. Maelcaba, v. annis.

23
24
25

35. Maelbrigte mac Dornain

xxxix annis.

36. losep, annis ix.

37. Maelpatraic, anno uno.

38. Cathassach, xx. annis.

39. Muiredach mac Fe

gusa% ix. annis.

40. Dubdalethi mac CeOaig

xxxiii.

41. Muirecan, iii. annis.

42. Maelmuire, xiii. annis.

43. Amalgaid, xxix. annis.

44. Dubdalethi, ii. annis.

45. Cummascach, iii. annis

46. Moelissu, xxvii. annis.

47. Domnall, viii. annis.

Third List
of thcCo-
arbs of
Patrick.

y6. The third List occurs in the Leahbar hui£^
Lecain, or 'Yellow Book^ of Lecan/ a Mi
written about a.d. 1390, and now preserved :
the library of Trinity College, Dublin. Tb
list contains very little more than the names ar
duration of the incumbencies, but is continue
to Gilla, or Gelasius, who died 1 1 74. The sane
liberty has been taken as before, of prefixing
number to each prelate's name, for the coi
venience of reference. The years of incunc
bency are omitted in Nos. 8, 12, 13, 2$, 3<
49> 50^ 5^ a^d 58.

* Bronaig. These words have
been left untranslated, because, as
Mr. King has jastly remarked, there
is in them an error of transcription.
We should read * Eoghan maine-
strech-buti mac Bronaig i ' i. e.
* Eoghan [or Owen] of Monaster-
boice, son of Bronach/

' MacDornaim: i.e. son of Dc
nan.

' MacFergusai i.e.sonof Ferv

^ Mac Ceilaig : i. e. son of C
lach or Kelly : the Irish C b ilwi
pronounced as K.

^ Teliotu Book. For an accoi
of this MS. see O'Curry's Lectw
p. 190.

rR.oi>.] from the Yellovo Bool of Lecan. 179

. F^atraic, xxii.

33-

Mac Loingsi, xvii.

. Sechnall, xiii.

34-

Arti, ii.

. Sen-Patraic, x.

35-

Eogan mainistrech, viii.

Senen, X.

36.

Forandan.

;. larlaithe, xiiii.

37-

Dermait, iiii.

i. Patraic, iiii.

38.

Fethgna, xxii.

7. Cormac, xii.

39-

Ainmire, i.

8, ^, 10. Cormac * and Dub-

40.

Cathusach, vii.

tach, xiiii., and Ailill

41.

Maelcoba, v.

xiii.

42.

Maelbrigde, xxix.

11. AiliU, X.

43-

losep. ix.

12. iDuach.

44.

Maelpatraic, 1.

13- Fiachra.

45-

Cathusach mac Fergusa,

H' Keidlim, xx.

XX.

15* Cairellan, x.

46.

Muiredach mac Fergusa,

i6« £ochad, xv.

ix.

17- Senach, xii.

47-

Dubdalethi mac Cellaig,

18. A4ac Laisre, xiiii.

xxxviii.

19* Tomine, XXXV.

48.

Muirecan mac Eathach *,

20. Segine, xxiiii.

xix.

21. Flann Febla, xxiiii.

49.

Maelmuire.

22. Suibni, xii.

50.

Amalgaid.

23. Congus, XX.

51.

Dubdalethi.

24. Celi-Pedair, vii.

52.

Cumascach, iii.

25* Ferdacrich,

53-

Maelissa, xxvii.

26. Foendelach, x.

54-

Donmall, xiiii.

27- Dubdalethi, xviii.

55-

Cellach, xxvii.

28. Airechtach, i.

56.

Muircertach, iii.

^9' Cudinisc, iiii.

57-

Maelmuadoc, h. mongair.'

30. Connmach, xvi.

58.

Gilla mac Liac meic Diar-

31. Torbach, i.

mada meic Ruaidri.*

32. Nuada, iii.

77. The fourth List is the most antient and va- Fourth Ust.
'^able of them all, and has been now for the first

Cormac, This is obscure. In
^« MS. it is written thus :
J xiui 7 xiii

^ormac yDubtach, 7Ailill.'
y^Kere the character 7, is the usual
^^ contraction for ocus or agus^

' Mac Eathach : i .e. son of Eochadh .

* h, mongair : i.e. grandson of
Mongar, written in full Sua Mongair ^
or O Mongair.

* Ruaidri: i.e. Gilla, son of
Liac, son of Diarmait, son of Roiy.

N 2

i8o Fourth List of Co-arhs of Patrick [i

time published. It is preserved in the Book
Lcinstcr*, compiled or written by Finn M-^
Gormain, who was Bishop of Kildarc from ii^s;^
to 1 1 60. This list is entitled Comarbada i^ia
t rate J * The Comarbs of Patrick/ A number hm ji
been prefixed to each name, as before. This 1 ism
gives some curious genealogical and topographicaii
information, which renders it very interesting^
and important.

1. Patraic ; Ixiiii. from the coming of Patrick into Erinn tx^
his death.

2. Sechnall, son of Restitute xiii.

3. Sen- Patraic, ii.

4. Binnen, son of Sescnen, x.

5. larlaithe, son of Trcn, xiiii., of Cluain-Fiacla.*

6. Cormac, xii. Primus abbas de Chlainn-Chemaigh.'

7. Dubthach, xiii.

8. Ailill, xiii., primus. 1 Both Ailills were of Dniim-

9. Ailill, X., secundus. J chid, in Hi Bresail.

10. Duach, xii., of Ui Tuirtri.

11. Fiachra, x., son of Colman, son of Eogan, of Enuch |
Senmail. j

12. Fcidilmid, xv., grandson of Faelan of Domnucli- i

13. Caurian, iiii., of Domnuch-mic-hu-garba, of the Ui -
Niallain. J

14. Kochaid, son of Diarmait, iii., of Dumnuch-rig-dniing. \

15. Scnach-garb •, xiii., of Cluain-hu-mic-Gricci, of the Ui |
Niallain [i.e. the smith* who was in [holy] orders of CiB» \
mor].

16. Mac Laisre, xviii.

> Uimiter. A MS. in Trtn. Coll. * SmitA. It is doubtful whether

Dublin, H. 2» it, fol. ii b. rol. 3. the note within brackets waa ib-

See O'Curry'x Lectures p. it6. tended to belong to No. 15 or to

* Cluain'Fiacla. Now Clonfeacle. No. 16. It \% written in the MS.

* De ChLitMH Cher mat f^h : i. e. of av it* it wa* meant to he a «oct ot ^
the Clann Ccrnaigh or Kearney. glt'*^'' on No. 1 6. But thb qu

* Semach-f^arh^ or Senarh the will be considered clarwhcft.
rmigh.

nemaind

i

-r^oD.] jrom the Book of Lelnster. i8i

% 7. Tommine, IxxxiiL

X 8. Scgini, xxvii., son of Bresal, of Acudh-Chlaidib.

1 9. Fonuinin, i.

a^o. Fland Fcbla, xxvi., son of Scanlan, grandson of Fingin.

21. SuibnCy XV., son of Cmnmael, son of Ronan of the Ui
hJialliin.

22. Congus Scribnid \ xx. Unde Torad penne Congusa ;
. grandson of Dasluaig, son of Ainmire of Cuil-Athgoirt.

23. Cdc-Pctair, viii., of Druim Chetna in Ui Bresail.
24* Fcrdachrich, x.

25. Cudinisc, iiii., son of Concas, grandson of Cathbath, son
of Eochad.

26. Dubdalethi, son of Sinach, xviii.

27. Airecuch, grandson of Faelan, of the Ui Bresail,
u year.

20. Faennelach, ill., son of Moenach-Mannacta. It was
be who was killed by Dubdalethi at Ros-bodba ; unde dicitur: —

Facodelach 2ne», i»e a less, Faendclach, from the south, he would

Tccbim sluaig ; do well

Dubdalethi mac Siniag, do fail To collect an army ;

Corigaib atuaid. Dubdalethi, son of Sinach, he is

With kings from the north.

29. Condmach, xiii., son of Dubdalethi. This was the son
•n succession to his fether, ut prophetavit ' Bec-mac-de.

30. Artri, ii. It was he who suffered martyrdom firom
O'Niall, and from Suibni, son of Sairnech.

31. Eogan Manistrech, viii. Eogan, son of Anbtech, Comarb
^ Patrick, and of Finnian, and of Buite, spiritual director of
Niall Glundub.* Here are three Airchinnechs, who took the
il>hacy by force, who are not commemorated in the Mass ; viz.
flind-roi, son of Cumascach, son of Conchobair, who died in
the chariot ; and Gormgal, son of Indnotach.

32. Forannan, xvii., son of Murgel ; i.e. Murgcl* was the
name of his mother

^ Ctmguj ScrihnU: i.e. Coneus • Prcpheta*vit. The meaning is,

the Scribe. The words that follow this was the Min who succeeded his

iipitty * Hence [the saying: or hence father, as predicted by the poet and

fac f>uein beginning] The fruit of prophet Bee-mac -<ie.

G4)gus\ pen/ alluding to his having ^ GlunJub, Thi> is a mistake for

been a scribe. Over tne word Da»- Niall Cailne.

iuajg it the glo^s * i. mensa,' which * MurgeL This la.*t claui^ is in

I i.-n unable to explain. Latin, *i. Murgel nomen matriscjus.*

•" 3

i8z Fourth List of Co^arhs of Patrick. [nmioB

33. Dermait, grandson of Tigeman. It was by him the linei
cloth was placed between the spears at the cross of Ardachad '
and the ridge of leeks and parsneps, so that they rotted by th
greatness of his power.

34. Fechgna, xxii.; i.e. Figlech*, son of Neehtan: of th
Clann Eochadh.

35. Ainmere, i. year; grandson of Faelan. He was sovc
reign of the Niallain, and of the priesthood of Armagh.

36. Maelcoba, v. years, son of Crundmal, of the family c
Cill mor.

37. Cathassach, son of Rabartach, iiii./grandson of Moinact
of the Clann Suibne. He died in his pilgrimage in the islan
of» . . .

38. Maelbrigti, son of Tornan, xxxix., comarb of Patrai
and of Colum-cille, of the Clann . . . ; i.e. of th
O . . .

39. Joseph, ix., son of Fathach, of the Clann • • .
-gaeta of the Dalriattai.

40. Maelpatraic, i. year, son of Mailtuile.

41. Cathassach, xx., son of Doligen.

42. Muridach, son of Fergus, be., of Glinn-arind in Sliabh . -

43. Dubdalethi, son of Cellah, xxxiii. Deolaid, daughc:
of Mailtuile, son of .... of Mis-cain-dega, was C
mother of Dubdalethi.

44. Murican, iii., son of Ciaracan, of Both-Donmaig.

45. Maelmaire, xix., son of Eochocan.

46. Amalgaid, xxix.

47. Dubdalethi, xii.

48. Cummascach, iii.

49. Domnall, xiiii.

50. Cellach.*

5 1 . Maelmoedoc, grandson of Morgar.

52. Gillamacliac, i.e. Mac-ind-fhirdana.*

53. The bishop Hua Muiredach.

' Ardachad^ now Ardagh. This marked by dots, Nos. 38, 39,
passage is very obscure. and 43. ^

' PigUch. This word signifies * Cellach, Here the orig^

'vigils : meaning that this prelate list stops. The remaining

wis called * Fcchgna of the Vi- are added in another hand.

giU.' * Aftff-iW^*iriAi/wi. These woT^

3 Island of . . . The MS. is signify * Son of the poet.'
illegible here, and alho in the places

nraoo.] Annals of Ecclesiastical Events. 183

54« Gilla-chomdad Hua Carain.

55. Tomaltach, son of Aedh, son of Toirdelbach Hui Chon-
liobair.

The historical and genealogical information

given in the foregoing list is of great value to the

student of Irish Church history, in which the

bishops of Armagh have played so important a

part. At present it is only necessary to note,

that the years of each prelate's incumbency

appear to have been added after the list of names

was written ; they are, however, in a hand coeval

with the list itself, if not in the original hand.

They are written over the lines, at the places

where they are inserted above, which will explain

the circumstance that they sometimes interrupt

the sense.

/8. The same MS. (the Book of Leinster) con- Amuitof
tains a curious list of the kings of Ireland since evenc«,from
Christianity, in which are inserted, in the briefest uiimer.
iWm of annals, notices of the principal battles
and other events of each king's reign, and, in
particular, the deaths of the bishops and abbats
^>t Armagh.^ It will be worth while to ex-
tract from this list, under each king's reign, the
ecclesiastical events which illustrate the subject
of this work.

The tract is entitled Inciptt do jlatthesaih ocus
amserath b-Ercfui tar creitim. * Here begins, Of
the reigns and times of Erinn since Christianity.'
Some of the entries or events recorded in this

* Armagh. The tlatcs of the earlier will <)b>er\'c the anrient and more
k\^Z> will be found in the Appendix simple orthography of the names in
A, I able VI. p. 256. The reader the following AnnaU.

184 Annals of Ecclesiastical Events [n

document are in Latin. They are here give
that language without translation. The
entries are translated into English.

LAOEGAIRE, SON OF KIALL.

XXX. annos regnum Hibemie post adventum Patricii ter
Ardmacha fundata est.
Secundinus et senex Patricius quieverunt.

AILIOLL MOLT, SON OF DATHI.

Quies Benign! sancti episcopi.
Quies larlathi tertii episcopi.

LUGAID, SON OF LAOEGAIRE.

Patricii scotonim episcopi^
Cortnac primus abbas,
Quies Ibari episcopi.

MURCHERTACH, SON OF ERG.

Dubthach abbat of Ardmacha quievit.
Dormitatio S. Brigitae.
Ailioll abbat of Ardmacha.
Quies Colmain McDuach.

TUATHAL MAELGARB.

Quies Ailbe Imlecha.^

Ailiol * [ii.] abbat of Ardmacha.

Nem episcopus.

DIARMAIT, SON OF CERBHAILL.

Duach abbat of Ardmacha.
Ciaran mac-int-saer.
Colum mac Crimthaind.
Fiachra abbat of Ardmacha.

DOMNALL ET FERGUS DUO FILII MEIC ERCA.

Quies Brenaind Birr, ccc"*®- anno actatis suae [dlxxx.'

* ImUcha. The Slmes, or rest, which indicates that he wj

i. e. death, of Ailbe, of Imleach second of the name.

[Emly]. ' Dlxxx, This number i

^ Ailiol. Over this name is the ten over the linej it denote

number ii. (added above in brackets), 580.

] Jhm the Book of Lelnster. 185

BAXTAN AND EOCHAID.

[No ecclciiifrical eyents are recorded under this reign.]

AIMIRE) SON OF 8ETNA.

[No ecclesiastical events recorded.]

BAETAN, SON OF NINNIDH.

Ite Cluana-Oenu, h. Loigsi.
Gillas sapiens quievit.

AED, SON OF AINMIRE.

Daig son of CaireU quievit.

The great convention of Drum-Ceatt.

Feidlimid abbat of Ardmacha moritur.

Eochu abbat of Ardmacha.

Grigorius Papa.

David of Cill-muine.

Quies Coluim-cille et Baithine.

COLMAN RIMID, ET AED 8LAINE.

Quies ComgaiU Benchoir.
Fintan of Cluan Eidnech.
Quies Cainnig.

AED UARIDNACH.

Senach abbat of Ardmacha
Vel hie Grigorius.

MAELCOBA.

[No ecclesiastical events recorded.]

SUBNE MENN.

Mac Lasre abbat of Ardmacha.

DOMHNALL, SON OF AED.

Mochuta of Rathin quievit.
Molasse of Leth-glinn quievit.

CELLACH AND CONALL CAEL, SONS OF MAELCOBA.

Fursu quievic.

BLAITHMAC ET DIARMAIT.

Fechin of Fobar, Manchan of Leith, Aineran of In-

decna quieverunt.
Then was the Buidh Coneill [the ycUow pestilence].
Synod us Constantinopolitana.

1 86 Annals of Ecclesiastical Events [i

SECHNASACH, SON OF BLAITHMAC.

Navigatio Columbani episcopi cum reliquiis san<
to Inis-bo-finn.

CENDFAELAD, SON OF CRUNDMAEL.

Prima combustio Airdmacha.

FINNACTA FLEDACH.

Adomnanus captivos duxit ad Hiberniam.

LOINGSECH, SON OF OENGUS.

Moling of Luachra.

Esuries maxima in Hibernia ut homo hominc
mederet.

CONGAL OF CENN MAGAIR.

[No ecclesiastical events recorded.]

FERGALL, SON OF MAELDUIN.

[No ecclesiastical events.]

FOGARTACH, SON OF NIALL.

[No ecclesiastical events.]

CINAED, SON OF IRGALACH.

[No ecclesiastical events.]

FLAITHBERTACH, SON OF LONSECH.

He died * at Ardmacha.

Subne abbat of Ardmacha moritur.

AED ALLAIN, SON OF FERGALL.

[No ecclesiastical events.]

DOMNALL, SON OF MURCHAD.

Quies Fidmuine * [i. h. Suanaig],
Cucumne.

NIALL FROSSACH, SON OF FERGAL.

Ferdachrich, abbat of Ardmacha.

' Died. The Four Masters add, signify that he was the grain

'having resigned his kingdom for Suanach. The Four Masti

a monastic life/ a.d. 729. him * Fidhairle Hua Sua:

' fiV/OTtf/«^. The words in brackets a.d. 758.
occur as a gloss over the name, and

rTROD.] from the Book of Leimter. 187

DONDCHAD, SON OF DOMNALL.

Dubdaleth, abbat of Ardmacha.

AED ORDNIDE.

Condmach, Torbach, Toictech, Nuado, abbats of Ard-
macha quieverunt.

CONCHOBAR, SON OF DONDCHAD.

Eogan Manistrech of Ard-macha.

MAELSECHLAINN, SON OF MAELRUANAID.

Forannan et Diarmait duoabbates Airdmacha quieverunt.

AED FINDLIATH.

Fethgna abbat of Ardmacha.

FLANN, SON OF MAELSECHLAINN.

Ainmeri et Maelcoba abbates Airdmacha quieverunt.
Battle of Belach-mugna by the Leinster-men against the
Munster-men, in quo cecidit Cormac, son of Culenan.

NIALL GLULDUBH.

[No ecclesiastical events.]

DONDCHAD, SON OF FLANN.

Maelbrigte, son of Toman, et Joseph, et Maelpatraic,
tres abbates quieverunt.

CONGALACH, SON OF MAELMITHIG.

[No ecclesiastical events.]

DOMNALL, GRANDSON OF NIALL.

Muredach abbas Airdmacha moritur.

MAELSECHLAINN, SON OF DOMNALL.

Dubdaleithe comarb of Patrick.

BRIAN, SON OF CENNETIGH.

[No ecclesiastical events.]

MAELSECHLAINN, SON OF DOMNALL [restored].

Maelmaire, comarb of Patrick.

INTERREGNUM OF TWO YEARS.

Amalgaid comarb of Patrick.

1 88 Annals of Ecclesiastical Events. 0

TAIRDELBACH, GRANDSON OF BRIAN.

Dubdalethi, comarb of Patrick.

MUIRCHERTACH, GRANDSON OF BRIAN.

MaelisU) comarb of Patrick.

INTERREGNUM OF SIX YEARS.

Cellach comarb of Patrick.

Macl-isu, grandson of Ainmire, chief senior [ardsenoir] -,

of Erinn, quievit. '_

Synod of Cenannus [Kells], ubi Johannes Cardinalis ;

pnesidens interfiiit. Millessimo c"^* 1"^* secundo cde- :

bratum fiiit istud nobile concilium.

MUIRCHERTACH) SON OF NIALL.

Domnall, grandson of Londgan, Archbishop [ardespoc] '

of Munster, quievit.
Synod at Bri-mac-Taidc.

RUADRI,^ SON OF TAIRDELBACH, GRANDSON OF CONCHOBAIt. \

The Saxons came into Erinn ; and Erinn was fitll of

wounds from them.
Gilla mac Liac, comarb of Patrick.
The Saxons came into Erinn. Erinn was wounded by

them.
Domhnall, grandson of Brian, King of Tuadmumaa

[Thomond], quievit.

These short Annals, never before publishcdy^
will be found to fix the dates of several bishops
and ecclesiastics of Armagh, and appear to have j
been written before the use of the Christian era
became general in Ireland.

Having placed on record these important docu- .
ments, we may now conclude this Introduction
bv some remarks on the existence of Christianity
in Ireland, before the mission of St. Patrick, and on
the histor}' of some natives of Ireland who appear

1 RuaJri. 'V\\U \isi paragraph i> in a hand later thaii the mtof the MS.

3

J

■no©.] Irish Christians before St. Patrick. 189

to have embraced Christianity independently, or
prior to that event.

79. Ireland, unlike Spain, and other countries, origin of
makes no claim to the honour of having received in ES^a?
Christianity from the preaching of one of the
original apostles.* The traditions which have
been handed down to us are, in themselves, by no
means improbable. They amount to this, that
isolated and accidental visits to the island made
by Christian men in the third or fourth century,
some of them perhaps merchants, some ascetics, or
ecclesiastics, had raised up here and there, princi-
pally it would seem in the south or south-east, some
tew Christian families, separated from each other,
and probably ignorant of each other's existence.

Some natives of Ireland also, who had emi- inai
grated to the Continent before the coming of SbJ^T
St. Patrick, appear to have there become imbued ^*^™^
with Christian doctrine, and notwithstanding the
great difficulty in that age of intercourse with so
inaccessible a land, may have produced some
preparatory influence on their friends at home.
But the fact that there were Irishmen on the
Continent in that early period who were believers
in Christ, docs not necessarily prove that they
had received their Christianity in their native
countr)-, or that thcjre was any Christianity in
Ireland at the time.

From a passage in the writings of St. Jerome, PeUgittfor

Cjrlodus.

' Ap(utUt. The vton- that St. authority, and probably originated

Junr*, the *on of Zcbcdcc and in the similituac between Hiberia

'Tfifhcr of St. John, had preached in and Hibernia. — Lamgam^ vol. i.

Ireland, i^ not found in any IrUh p. 3.

190 Pelagius or Calesttus [nmtoD.

said to be of some have inferred that the celebrated heretic
Pelagius was of Irish birth ; others suppose that
Jerome alluded not to Pelagius, but to Caslestius,
the follower of Pelagius. He names neither,
and the words are certainly very obscure.^ ' The
devil,' he says, 'although silent himself, barks
through a huge and corpulent Alpine dog, who
can do more mischief with his claws than with
his teeth : for^ he is by descent of the Scotic na-
tion, the next country to the British ; and like an-
other Cerberus, according to the fables of the poets,
must be struck down with a spiritual club, that he
may be silenced for ever with his master Pluto/

The corpu- In auothcr place St. Jerome speaks also of a

lent Scot _ ^ r ' Jl

censured by Scot, or at Icast of ouc in some way connected
with the Scots, a man corpulent in his person 9
and so far apparently to be identified with th^
* Alpine dog' of the foregoing passage. This
man, who is not named, is described as having
written against Jerome's Commentary on tlm^
Epistle to the Ephcsians, in the spirit of a^

* Obscure, Hieron. Comm. in modern Scotland. But the mme ^

Jerem,y lib. iii., Prof, * Ipseaue Scotia, in S. Jerome^s time, m^

mutus latrat per Albinum [aL Al- applied exclusively^ to Ireland.

f>inum] canem, grandem et corpu- ' For. The vis conaequentic hei

entum, et qui calcibus magis possit is not verv apparent. Emm b, pc-

sxvire, quam dentibus. Habet enim hai>s, to oe referred to Albinnni c

progenicm Scoticae gcntis, de Britan- Alpinum.
norum vicinia : qui juxta fabulas ' Pluto. Ussher reasons that Stf

poetamm, instar Cerberi, spiritual! Jerome here distinguishes

percutiendus est clava, ut xtemo Cert>erus and Pluto : meaning

cum sue magistro Plutone silentio the latter Pelagius, who ram

conticescat.' It seems plain, from in retirement himself, whilst he

the context, that ////, in the begin- pagated his opinions by mean

ning of this sentence, mu*t refer to Cerberus, i.e. Cslestius liis

diaholusy not to Pelagius. The word disiMple. — Britt. Eccl. Antiq.^ c,

Albinum, or Alpinum, is obscure. (Works, v. p. 255). But all this i^

The former reading is preferred by weak, and hangs on the asnimptioi^

Vallarsius, and understood by him that * Ipse mutus latrat* signified

as alluding to Albion or Alba, the Pelagius.

nrnoa] spohett of OS a Scot by St. Jerome. 191

* unlearned calumniator/ as did also his * prae-

corsor Grunnins/ by which nickname Ruffinus ^

is supposed to be intended. It is stated also that

the same 'calumniator' had objected to the

books against Jovinian, that in them virginity

^is preferred to marriage, marriage to digamy,

digamy to polygamy.^ To this latter objection

Jerome replies : ' But this most stupid fellow,

overloaded with the porridge of the Scots, does

not recollect that in that very work we had said,

I condemn not digamists, nor yet trigamists,

Mjr, not even octogamists, if that could be,'^ &c.

The Scotic calumniator therefore must have

been cither Pelagius or Caelcstius : probably the

former, from the allusion to his great stature.*

* Ktfumt, This is probable, be-
caiK Rufiinus had formerly made
Ae tunc objection to the Comm. on
£pi^., that in it Jerome had tran-
wrfted parages from Origen (sec
fiaM rerpoiuio, commonly cited as
^' iii. coKtra Ruffinum^ cap. 1 1 ) :
■d Um> becau'^c Jerome goes on to
•y.tkat be had answered this Grun-
Bna ifl two books (evidently alluding
totbc two book.s contra Ri^uium), in
•hirh be had refuted not only what
Groiuifia had alleged, but also
■^ had «nce been advanced by
^ pment calumniator. * Quod
■on ritdtta przcursor ejus Grun-
»WS olim nisus est carpere. Cui
d<>obus mponsi libris, uoi quz iste
^thi fua profcrt, et alio jam calum-
"J>ott, mirgata %unx/— Comm. in
Jfrem. hoUg.

* ftfygamy. The reader will re-
<^*te that by digamy and polygamy
^ hrrt meant, not the marriage
wtfh two or more wives all living ;
hut 1 Rorriagt with a second or third
*^ ificf the death of the former.

' CmU he. • Ut nupcr indoctus

calumniator cnipit, qui Commen-
tarios meos in epistolam Pauli ad
Ephesios reprehendendos putat,* Sec.
... * Nee recordatur stolidissimus
et Scotorum pultibus pnegravatu5,
nos in ipso dixisse opere : Non
damno digamos, immo nee triea-
mos, et si fieri possit, octogamos/&c.
* Stature. In another pbu:e also,
Jerome alludes to the great stature
of Pelagius, saying that he had the
shoulders of Milo. * Tu ipse qui Ca-
toniana nobis inflaris superbia, et
Milonis humeris intumescis,' Sec. —
Dial. contra Pelagianos i. n. 28. So
also Paulus Orosius calls Pelagius a
Goliath ; < Stat etiam immanissimus
superbia Goliat, camali potentia
tumidus,omnia perse posse confidens.*
— Liher Apohget. contra Pelag,
(Bibl. PP. Lugdun. vi. p. 449, c).
And again, addressing Pelagius:
* Sed tibi specialis imic portandi
operis fortasse fiducia est, quod bal-
neis epulisque nutritus, latos humcros
gestas robustamque cenricem : pnc-
terens etiam in fronte pingucdinem,*
Scc-IbiJ., p. 457, C.

igz An Irishman distinguished [pom.

St. Augustine has called Caelcstius a man of
acute genius \ and always speaks of Pclagius as
one whom he greatly loved, a man of holy and
most Christian life^, it may seem extraordinary
therefore that St. Jerome should have intended
to speak of either of them in such terms as he
has employed. But these are not the only pas-
sages in his works from which it appears that St
Jerome occasionally suffered himself to be carried
away by the heat of controversy.

Learned men, however, have generally supposed
that Caelestius, not Pelagius, was the opponent to
whom St. Jerome applies the opprobrious terms
of * Alpine dog,' 'fattened on Scotic porridge ;' &c.
And their reason is this: — Pelagius, as we learn
from St. Augustine ^, and others, was called ' the
Briton,' to distinguish him from Pelagius of
Tarentum, and therefore, it is inferred, was of
Welsh^ descent, and not a Scot or Irishman-

^ Acute genius, * Homine acer- cannot mean Pelagius, became P^

rimi ingenii.' — Contra duos Epistolas lagius was a Briton. Theieft''*'

Pelagianorum, lib. ii. n. 5. he must mean Caelestius. Tb*^*"

' Life. * Egregic Christianus.* fore, Caelestius was a Scot, i. c- •*

— De Peccator. meritis et remits * iii. Irishman. It seemed also some c<^

n. 6. firmation of this, that the I*^

' Augustine, * Pelagium, quem name Cellach, although g^DC^^^^H^

credimus, ut ab illo distingueretur Latinized Celsus^ is sometimes no^^

qui Pelagius Tarenti dicitur, Brito- C^lestius 5 not with any reference ^

nem co^ominatum, quod ut ser- its signification, but simfily s^ ^

vum Dei dilexeris, novimus.' — Epist, remote imitation of the souikL .*

186 (Paulino episcopo), torn. ii. 663, is remarkable that Ware and Haf*^^

ed. Bened. although thcv could not ha?e b^*"

* tVelsh, This is, in fact, the ignorant of Ussher*s opinioo, l»^^

whole ground of the opinion so omitted Caelestius, as well as P*^**"

general^ received, that Cxlcstius gius, in their list of Irish ^^"^^2

was an Irishman. Ussher and others Gcnnadius, who flourished at ^"f

appear to have reasoned thus : St. close of the fifth century, in *"*

Jerome must be understootl to speak book, De 'viris iUustr,^ c. 44, tell» ^

cither of Pelagius or Cxle^tius : he that Cxlestius, when t youth in ^^

i!CT»oD.] as a Theologian in St. Jcrojncs Tirnc, J 93

Possibly, however, in that age the name of Briton
in popular use may have included the Scots.

Be this however as it may, for the object of AnirUh-
this work prohibits our enlarging upon such therPda-
questions, it must suffice to observe that St. Sb^dS^*
Jerome, in the foregoing extracts, manifestly ^fS^
speaks of a Scot, or Irishman, who was a ^"'^*'
professor of Christianity, and engaged in the ^^^
controversies of that day. This is unquestion-
able evidence that there was at least one Irish-
man, on the continent of Europe, at that early
period, who was a Christian. It does not neces-
sarily follow that he had received the faith in his
native country, neither does it affect our argu-
ment whether we identify him with Caelestius,
Pelagius, or anybody else, whose name is known
in history.
80. St. Beatus, Biat, or Bie, apostle of Switzer- ss. i

land, first bishop of Lausanne, is said to have t^aia
been a Scot, but on scarcely any evidence except ^ ** ^"^*
that he was the companion of St. Mansuetus, or

y,ind before he had adopted (Works vi. p. 340) j and Dr. Petrie

<^ Pelagian errori, had wntten argues, that if he wrote letters to

■Be csceUent letters to his parents. his parents, the parents must hare

It ii not laid that, the parents were been able to read them, and, therc-

B Irdaod, or that Czlestius was an fore, there was a knowledge of letten

Imhiiuiiy much less that his monas- im IrelamJ before the age of St.

•wywai in Ireland. Nevertheless, Dr. Patrick (Essay on Tara, Trans. R.

O'Cooor infers, from this mention of Irish Acad, xviii. p. 47). But

t^nonastery, that the monastic insti- none of these inferences follow from

*■*» exited, im Ireland^ a whole cen- the premises, even though we admit

•^befoieSt. Patrick: (/J/r.//i^<r«. that the parents of Czlestius were

^f^. I. Proleg. i., p. Ixxviii.). in Ireland, except the last j and that

^[wr roocludes that the parents of is valid only on the assumption —

^^'Imius roust have l)een Christians which, as we have seen, is more

(» if he could not have written to than doubtful — that Czlestius was

i^« parents, even though they had of Irish birth, and his parents resi-

**«» Pagans), PrimorJ., c. xvi. dent in Ireland.

O

194 'S'/. Mansuy ofToulan Irishman, [umioo.

Mansuy, first bishop of Toul in Lorraine. They
have been both set down as disciples of St,
Peter ; and if so, must have flourished in the
Apostolic age. Mansuetus is expressly said ti»
have been an Irishman, by his poetical biographer*
Adso ^ : —

' Insula Christicolas gestabat Hibernia gentes,
Unde genus traxit, et satus indc fait.*

^ Hibernia's^oil was rich in Christian grace ;
There Mansuy saw the light, there lived his noble race.'

But it is impossible to suppose Ireland to hav^^c
been full of Christians in the first century, an ^^
therefore we must conclude that Adso, wh ^"O
died A.D. 994, attributed to the Ireland of th^ c
Apostolic age what was true of it in his owr^*-
Calmet^ in his ' Dissertation on the Bishoj^a*^
of Toul,' seems to have proved, that St. Mansu;;;;;;J^
was sent from Rome to Toul about the middl ^
of the fourth century. If he was sent firor
Rome, this may explain* the mistake that fa-
was a disciple of St. Peter, for it was a commoi
idiom to say * sent from St. Peter,' to signif
'sent from Rome.' But however this may
St. Mansuetus, which may possibly be the trans- -
lation of his Celtic name, was in all proba-
bility an Irishman, distinguished as an cmincn'

* Adso, Quoted by Usshcr, Pri- • Calmet, Dissert. «ir les Evcsai

morJ., p. 750 } Calmet, Hist. Eccl. dc Toul.,pref. to vol. i. of die Hi

ct Civ. de Lorraine, torn, i., Preuves, Eccl. et Civ. de Lomine, p,

p. 86. Mansuetus is said to be ' no- sq.

Dili Scotorum gcnere oriundus.* — ' Explain, This remark has

Acti. TulUnsium Episcopor., ap. Mar- made by Dr. Lanigui, EffL Hu^^"

tene et Durand. Thes. Nov. iii. p. 1. p. 5. *

txrwMoo.'] as also Catbald oflarentum. 195

Cliristian missionary about a century before St.

Patrick.

Eliphius, and his brother Eucharius^ with their Eiiphiosand

sisters, were also connected with Lorraine, and n^t^inih!
arc said to have suffered martyrdom at or near
Toul, under Julian the Apostate. But we can-
not place much reliance on the statement that
they were the children of a king of Scotia.' Their
names are not Irish. Rupertus Tuitiensis, who
flourished in the beginning of the twelfth cen-
tur>', in his Life of Eliphius^ gives us to under-
stand that they were natives of Toul, and seems
to have been wholly ignorant of the story of their
Irish descent. Calmct^ makes no allusion to it.

Cathaldus of Tarcntum, however, has un- caOuWutof
doubted claims to be considered an Irishman, aoirithmui.
His biographers, and the traditions of the Church
of Tarcntum, all agree in the assertion that he
was bom in Ireland ; and his name is evidently
Irish. The antient MS. of his Life^ preserved in
the archives of the Church of Tarcntum, tells us
that he was bom just before the death of the
emperor Trajan, and Baronius^ in his notes to the
Roman Marty rology, dates him accordingly a.d.
166 circitcr. The truth, however, slips out in
the Life ^ just referred to, where we read that Ca-
thaldus, before he left Ireland, was a public teacher

' Scttia. TTic only authority for where he treats fully of St. Eliphtus.

^^ is Peter Merss, or Merssxus, — Lani^an i. pp. 6-8.

»^ ttys * Eliphiu!* filius regis * Lije. Published by Colgan,

J^f^rr— Quoted by Ussher, fri- Actt, SS. Hihrrm. p. 545.

■B^i., p. 7S4. ^ Baromtu. Mart. Rom. ad 10

' Ehfktiu. Ap. Surium, 16 Oct., Maii.

^«a T. p, It4. • The Life : cap. 4 (Colgsui, he,

* (Mhmtt. Ubi »upr. Uv. v., fi/., p. 546).

o 2

196 SeduVtMS probably of Irish birth. [nmoi

in the school of Lismore. But the school c
Lismore did not exist in the second century. It
foundation by St. Mochuda, otherwise Carthag, :
variously dated by the Irish annalists, between th
years ^ 630 and 6^6. It is certain therefore,
Cathald was a scholar or a teacher at Lismore, thj
he could not have left Ireland much before th
middle of the seventh century. He belonge
therefore to the second order of Irish Saints, wh
were wont, as we have seen^, to devote themselvc
to missionary work abroad. At all events w
cannot refer to him with any certainty, as a
instanceof a Christian Irishman, before the time
of St. Patrick.
The poet The Christian poet Sedulius has also beei

cuimed as claimcd as an Irishman. He flourished in Italy
it is said, about the end of the fourth and be
ginning of the fifth century.^ His works wcr
collected by Turcius Rufus Asterius, who wa
consul in 494 ; from which circumstance, Usshc:
Ware, and others conclude that he must hav
lived to about that year. Be this as it maj
it cannot be said that this Sedulius owed h:
Christianity to the preaching of St. Patrid
There can be no doubt that Trithemius an
other authors believed him to have been
native of Ireland ; and his name, in its Irisl

* Years. U'^sher, Ind, Chron, a.d. ' Century, Cave gives hb /**

630: Four Mast. 631 : Ann. Clon- 434: Vi^rt {Winters rf InUmd^^

macnois, 631: Ann.Ult. 635:Tigh. Harris, p. 7), 490: Usshef) ^

636. See Colgan, ubi sufr, p. 560, mord.y p. 777, and Ind. Ckf^

an Irishman.

636. See Colgan, ubt sutr. p. 560, morJ.y p. 777, and Ind, CknB

who refutes unanswerably the early circ. 494. Colgan supposes him <

date attributed to S. Cathald. Cont. have been distinguuhcd as a wiiti

Vare, Opusc, S. Patriciiy p. 105. before 395, and to have died she

^ Seen. Vid. supra, p. 114. sq. before 450. Acti, SS,, p. 314-

1 Irish Christ tans before St. Patrick. 197
Siudbuly or Siadbaly is of common occur-

I

m the foregoing examples^ without enter- imhchrb-
ito any discussion of some other alleged ^^ntof
CCS, which arc, to say the least, doubtftil, ^^^st.
vident that there were Irish Christians on ^^^^
>ntincnt of Europe before the mission of
trick, some of whom had attained to con-
)lc literary and ecclesiastical eminence,
ocs not follow, as we have already observed,
icsc Irishmen had received the faith of the
1 in their native land before they had
itcd to the continent ; but there is nevcr-
cvidcnce sufficient to show that there
Christians", isolated indeed, and not formed
anonically disciplined Churches, but still
ians, and even perhaps Christian eccle-
;, in Ireland, before the coming of St.

rtnce. It has been doubted A.D. 154, the honour of having

Scdulius the poet is the renounced idolatry, and stales that

ic * Setlulius Scotus Hibcr- he wan one of three remarkable in-

ho wrote the commentary dividuals who had attained to the

lul*-* epistles. Some have knowledge of the one true God, in

d that Sedulius the com- Ireland, before St. Patrick. The

did not live until the be- following is a translation of the pas-

»f the ninth century, and sage alluded to. After speaking of

tly cannot be Sedulius the good government of the country

who certainly flourished under Cormac, the writer adds — 'for

h. But if both were na- Cormac had the faith of the one

rcUnd, this will not aflfect true God, according to the law'

lent. [i. e. apparently the Mosaic law] ;

tians. A ver\' curious • for he said that he would not adore

, entitled * Sencnas na re- stones or trees, but that he would

iNtory of Cemeteries, first adore Him who had made them,

by lyr. Petrie,from a MS. and who had power over all the

brary of the Royal Irish elements: namely, the one power-

, collated with another ful God who created the elements :

Trinity Coll. Dublin, in Him he would believe. And he

' Cormac mac Airt, sur- was the third oerson in Erinn, who

Ifada, King of Ireland, believed, before the coming of

iqS The Story of the Four Bishops [intilod.

The story of
the four
Munster
bishops and
other ccdc-
iiastics,
before St.
Patrick,
apocryphal.

8 1 . The statement that there were fourMunstcr
bishops together with several priests and Christian
ascetics in Ireland, before St. Patrick, cannot be
received with any degree of credit, although it
has been adopted by Colgan^ and countenanced
by Ussher.^ Nevertheless the story, for several
reasons, must be noticed here. It has no better
authority than the legendary lives of the very
Saints who are said to have been the predecessors
of St. Patrick, and is not supported, but rather
refuted, by the Irish Martyrologies and Annals.
*We have it,' says Colgan, ^from the most
antient acts of our Saints, written about *
thousand years ago and upwards, that there were
in various parts of Ireland not only very many
believers in Christ, but also many distinguished
for sanctity : as Kieran, Ailbe, Declan, and Ibafj
bishops ; and also before them, St. ColmaHj
bishop ; St. Dima, the teacher of St. Dcclati »
St. Corbre, bishop ; St. Mochelloc, St. Bean, S^-

Patrick. Conchohhar mac Nessa'
[Kin? of Ulster, who died a.d. 48],
* to whom Altus had told concern-
ing the crucifixion of Christ, ivas
the first \ Morann (surnamed Mac
Main), son of Cairpre Cinn-Cait,
was the second person ; Cormac was
the third ; ancl it is probable that
others followed in the same belief.*
— Round Toavers (Traas. R. Irish
Acad., vol. XX. p. 100). The* Al-
tus' here mentioned seems to have
been the same who is elsewhere
called Conall Ceamach. He was
an Irish warrior, who happened to
be at Jenisalem at the crucifixion of
Christ, and returned to his own
country full of indignation at the
'conduct of the Jews. — See O 'Fla-
herty, O^f., p. 283 sq. Cairpre

Cinn-Cait (the cat-headed) was ^
plebeian King of Ireland, a.d. ^'
set up after the murder of the n*'^!?
by the insurgent peasantry. ****
son Morann (whose mother's ^^^
was Main) became afterwards c*^^
brehon orjudge of Ireland^and ^
celebrated for his legal skill ^^

justice.— OgX?*» P' 3^®« ^^^ ^^!^
legends cannot be seriously qu^^|^
as historical, and they do not ^vj*^
to ascribe a knowledge of CW*^
tianity, properly so called^ to th^ ^'
dividuals mentioned, but only ^ '*'
nuntiation of idolatry.

1 Coigan, S(mnta affemJ. odA^^
S, Patr.f c. 15 ; Triad, Tkamm^t ?'
250.

« Ussker, Primord,, c. i6, p. 7'''
(Works, vi. p. 332).

iNTROD.] in Munster before St. Patrick. 199

Colman, St. Lactin, St. Mobi, St. Findlug, St.
Cuminian, hermits, who flourished in Ireland be-
fore St. Patrick and St. Palladius.'

There is no sufficient evidence, however, that
the lives here alluded to by Colgan can be
older, in their present form, than the end of the
eleventh or beginning of the twelfth century \
But certainly they were compiled from authentic
documents, as appears from the knowledge they
display of the genealogy, family history, and
topography of the country; we are therefore
lx)und to examine the claims of the four bishops
^who are said in these biographies to have
laboured in Ireland before St. Patrick.

8^. St. Ciaran, or Kieran^ as his name is gene- st Kieran

rally written, is called by the author of his Life,

* the first born of the saints of Ireland.' His father

was descended from the chieftains of Ossory ;

his mother was of the race of the Corcalaidhe,

of which district he was himself a native, having

Wn born in Cliar island, now Cape Clear island,

Wony of West Carberry, County of Cork. His

principal Church, however, was Saighir, now Seir-

kieran, a parish in the barony of Bally britt.

King's County. The word Saigbir is said to

\ Twelfth century. This is also the marked, the C is always pronounced

opinion of the Bollandist Papcbrock: hard, as K, even before the voweU

* Venim quod bona Colgani venia e and i : and it is now generally ad-

l^tctmn sit : non sunt tarn antiqua mitted that this was also its antient

"ila acta quam crcdi vult ipse, sed ab pronunciation in Latin,

^uctoribiwfabulosissimisconsarcinata ' First bcrn, * Hibemix sanc-

pleraquc, ncc ulla scculo xii. priora/ torum primogenitus.' — Ht. S. Kier-

--App.ad Fit, S,Patr.,^i,n, I {17 aniy c. i 5 Colgan, Actt, SS,, p.

Mart., p. 58,, c). 458.
Kieran, In Irish, as already re-

200 The early Date assigned to [w

have been the name of a well or founta
St Patrick's probably venerated in Pagan times ; and a ]
phecy attributed to St. Patrick is cited as ha^
directed St. Ciaran to the place. This propl
is the foundation of the chronology which
signs the early date to Ciaran's birth. He
thirty years of age, we are told, before he
heard of the Christian religion ; he then v
to Rome, where he spent twenty years in ec
siastical studies : having been ordained a bisl
he was returning to Ireland, when he met
Patrick, who uttered this rann^^ or prophet
quatrain : —

' Saighir the cold ! Saighirthe cold' !
Raise a city on its brink.
At the end of thirty fair years
We shall meet there, I and thou.*

Patrick was then on his way to Rome,
had not as yet been consecrated a bishop,
therefore, we suppose the predicted meeting
Saighir to have occurred immediately, or s
after St. Patrick's arrival in Ireland, a.d. a,
Ciaran must have left Rome for his native co
try thirty years before ; and being then, as
have seen, fifty years of age, must have t

' Fountain, It is glossed ' nomen (5 March), translated by C<

fontis,' in the antient Scholia on the Actt, SS., p. 471.
Calendar of Aengus, at March 5th : • TAe cold. The Irish word

and see Ussher, Works vi. p. 345. fyine coU Ufiudr^ which the a

• Rann. This prophecy is given of the Life of St. Ciaran, pub

in the Genealogies of Corcalaidhe, by Colnn from the Kilkenny

published from the Books of Lecan evidently took for the name <

and Ballimote, by Dr. O'Donovan, fountain : < adi fontem • . .

Miscell. Celtic Society^ p. 10. It oc- vocatur Fuaram^ c. 5 j Colga

curs also in the Scholia on Aengus p. 458.

i*T»oo.] 5/. KUran of Setr-kieran untenable. 201

born about ^^Zy or thereabouts/ Thus Ciaran fUenn
was thirty years a bishop in Ireland before St. rJ2«J^
Patrick, during which time he converted the fc^pTt-
chieftains of his mother's family, the Corcalaidhe, "^
who arc therefore spoken of as the first who
' believed in the Cross,** and the first who granted
a site for the foundation of a Christian place of
worship in Ireland. This was Cill-Chiarain,
St. Kieran's Church, on Cape Clear island, the
ruins of which arc still visible, together with a
cross, sculptured on an anticnt pillar stone, near
the strand called Srath-Chiarain, or Kieran's
Strand, on the island. Cill-Chiarain, therefore,
according to this story, was the first Christian
church erected in Ireland.

He afterwards established a church or monas- FoaiKUrtoo
tcry at Saighir, on the confines of the boundary an.
between the northern and southern divisions of
Ireland, but on the Munster side. He began
by occupying a cell, where he lived, we are told,
as a hermit, in the midst of a dense wood, and
tamed some of the wild animals of the forest
for his amusement; but his fame drew disciples : a
monaster} followed, and then a city^, to which the
name of iS'^/g'Z^/r (pronounced iS'Wr)was given, from
the name of the antient well ; and it afterwards
became Seir-kieran, from the name of the saint.

But the early date attributed to St. Ciaran is Theoriy

date attri

• TkereahmU. This is the argu- calaidhc, by Dr. O^Donovan {Ctbic
iDcnf of Uuher, PrimorJ., p. 788 Socirty^s MisceU.)^ p. 13.
(W^ofks ▼!. 34a sq.), adopted by * City, Vit. S. Kierani, c. 6.
Co^gan, kc. dt.^p. 466. Colgan, ih.

* Cr$sj. Sec Genealogies of Cor-

zoz Sf. Kleran lived to a.d. 550. [urmon.

butcdtoSL inconsistent with several particulars related of

Kjenn un- t**i t* i*i i i

tenable. him in the very Lives which assert that early
date. He was a contemporary^ of the second
St. Ciaran of Clonmac-nois, of St. Brendan of
Birr, of St. Brendan of Clonfert, and of St
Ruadan of Lodhra. Nay, he was the disciple
of St. Finnian of Clonard, and was accounted
one of the twelve apostles of Ireland who were
sent forth from that school.^

All these celebrated ecclesiastics belonged to
the second order of saints, and died in the middle
or latter half of the sixth century.^ It is impos-
sible, therefore, that Ciaran could have been
born in 352, if he was the disciple of St. Finniaa,
who died just two hundred years afterwards. Wc
are told, indeed, by the author of his Life, that
he was far advanced in years*, and a bishop, when
he became the disciple of Finnian ; and other
difficulties are obviated by the assumption that
he lived to be three hundred years ^ old. No
doubt we must have recourse to some such
hypothesis ^ if we believe him to have been a

^ Contemporary, lb. capp. 33, 36. propter humilitatemsuametaniofaB

« School, lb. c. 34 ; Vit. S. Finni- sapientiae.*— f^/. c. 34. ColgaPi*^*

ani, c. 19 } Colgan, Actt. SS,, p. 395, p. 463.
andnotei4, p. 398. Seeabovep. 99. ^ Three kunJred Years, To*

3 Sixth Century, Ciaran of Clon- Mart, of Donegal, p. 65, ttyt S^

macnois died a.d. 549 ; Brendan of years.

Birr, a.d. 565 or 571 j Brendan of • Hypcthesu, Colgan cndeiv^i^

Clonfert, 577 ; and Finnian of Clon- to reduce this great age, by •bo'^'*^

ard, 551. The date of S. Ruadan's that we need not suppofc Q\aX9^^

death is not entered in the Irish have lived beyond the year $¥^

Annals ; but it must have been when the School of Clonanl ***

after 656, when he cursed Tara. — founded. This brings his age d^^^

Petrie on Tara Hill, p. 115. to 192. It may ai well be 1t^

*• Inyears. * Cum enim ipse erat tioned, that the genealogy of ^

scnex sapiens ct bencdictus Pontifex, father Luaigre is pre«rved in si^

dignatusestdiscere sub genu alterius, descents from his ancestor AcSfV^

NTROD.] History of St. Ailhe of Emly. :?o3

lisciple of St. Finnian in 540, and a bishop in
[oz. But whether this hypothesis removes all
lifficulty, is another question. The whole story
)f his studying at Rome, and his meeting
.vith St. Patrick there, is as apocryphal as the
prophecy of the thirty years, on which the chro-
lology of the legend rests.

83. St. Ailbe was thesonof Olcu, sonofNais^ stAUbeof
a descendant of Rudraighe, or Rory, King of ^^^*
Ireland. He was born, as the author^ of his
Life tells us, in the territory of Eliach, now
called Ely O'Carroll ^ including the baronies of
Clonlisk and Ballybritt, in the King's County,
in which latter district St. Ciaran erected his
monastery and town of Saighir. Ailbe was the
illegitimate son of a female slave, whose master,
a chieftain of the country, ordered the child to
be exposed, and he was left under a rock in the
fields. There a man named Lochan, son of
Luidir, found the infant, and placed him under
^he care of some Britons^ who had settled in the

jf Ossory, who was expelled from Fergus (King of Ulster in the first

•Elands, by the Dcsii, in the reign century), and grandson of Rudraighe,

^ Cormac Ulfada (a.d. 254-277). King of Ireland, a.m. 3845. — Sec

{^olgan, Actt. SS.y p. 472, cap. 3. OTlaherty, Ogx?., p. 274.

" this be so, St Ciaran's father ' Author. * Ex oriental! parte

Jould not have been born much be- regionis Eliach, quae est in Mumenia

^^re A.D. 500. [read Mumonia] ortus est.* Quoted

. * Nats. Hence the mistake made by Ussher, ubi supra.

^ some MSS. of his Life, where his » £fy O'Carroll. See Dr. O'Do-

'^^cr is called Olcnais, instead of novan's notes, p. Ixxxiv. (759) and

^Icu mac Nais, combining the two (760) to Topographical Poems (Irish

nanjcs. — Ussher ^ Works vi. p. 333. Archaeol. and Celtic Society), 1862.

^he territory of Ara, including and Book of Rights (Celtic Society),

Ara eliach, in the west of the Co. 1847, p. 78, note i.

Limerick, and the barony of Ara * Britons. Could it have been

^f Duhara, in the N. W. of the from them that the district was called

Co. Tipperary, were inhabited by Ballybritt ?

the descendants of Fertlacht, son of

204 Sf Ailbes sojourn in Rome, [umoo.

country. The Britons gave him the name of
Ailbe, because, says our author, he was found
alive ^ under the rock. After a few years, a
Christian priest visited the place. It is possible
that the British colony may have had some
Christians among them ; but the biographer
of our saint tells us that this priest had been
specially sent ^ into Ireland by the Apostolic sec,
many years before St. Patrick. By this mis-
sionary the boy was baptized and instructed;
and the next thing we hear of him is, that St
Dcclan^, his future friend and fellow-labourer,
met him at Rome, where he remained 'manj
years ' under the instruction of Hilary, the bishop.
The BoUandists^ Papebrock and Stilting arc of
opinion that this was Pope Hilary himself, who
presided over the see of Rome from 461 to 467.
But the author of St. Ailbe's Life, as Usshcr
remarks, evidently did not think so; for he
represents the bishop Hilary as sending his
pupil Ailbe to the Pope ^, and recommending his

' Ali*ue, Ail, is a rock, and beo, his successor in the see of Aito»f^

living. This etymology is very But they forgot that Sen Ftfnck

doubtful. was not properly succe»or, in ^

' Sent. ' Missus a sedeapostolica modem sense of the won!, ^

ad Hibemiam insulam, multis annis he died before the great St. PtfH^

ante Patricium, ut fidem Christi ibi They also suggest that the pn^

seminarct/ — Ussher, ib, who had baptized St. Ailbe, hafiH

> Declan, Ussher, vi. pp. 341, been sent Jrom Rome, can be *^

343. other than Palladius. Thkntp"^

* BoUandists. Papebrock, in ap- that we should expunge die * i"^

petid.^ c. I., ad Actt. S, Patricii {Acta years before Patrick,' qx>ken of ^

SS., torn. ii. Martii, p. 581). StiU the biographer. But we maf *

ting, De *vita S. Albei^ § i {Actt, well also expunge the 'sent ff^

SS.y torn. iv. September, p. 28). Rome,* which is quite as apocrypteb

The same authors suggest that what and is the only reason for suppotff

is said of St. Patrick, in (he Acts that Palladius was intended. Molt-

of St. Ailbe, may refer not to the over, Palladius was a bishop.

great Patrick, but to Sen Patrick, ^ Pope, * Misit ilium ad Domi

nmoo.] and return to Ireland. 205

elevation to the episcopacy. Whatever this
biographer's opinion on the subject may be
ivorth, he clearly regarded Hilary and the Pope
as two distinct persons. St. Ailbe, if he ever
inras at Rome, could not have been there in the
days of Pope Hilary.

Fifty Irishmen, we are told, who were of hm fifty
course Christians, had followed Ailbe to Rome, panio^
The Pope placed them by themselves in a cell,
*dcdit eis Papa cellam seorsum,' and made St.
Ailbe their president. After remaining at Rome
for a year and fifty days, Ailbe set out for
Ireland with his fifty companions, amongst whom
were twelve of the name of Colman, twelve
called Cocmgen, or Kevin, twelve Fintans,
together with St. Declan and others.

Before settling in Ireland, St. Ailbe preached Hkcond-
the Gospel in the apostolic way, * apostolico ^^Lry
more,' to the Gentiles — what Gentiles we are
not told. However, a great multitude of them
believed, and were baptized. He built a monas-
tery in their country, and left there certain sons
of GoU, * filios Goill,'^ which may perhaps signify
Galli, or Gauls.

BQiB Pa|Kiin ut ab co ordlnaretur nomine, corpus Christi oflferrtt,* &c.

q>tflropu&.*~U»her, uhi supra. This must have been Dole [^DoU

* fifio/ GwU. Ussher, ubi supra^ mor, the g^reat Dole], in Brittany,

p. ^46. The BoUandist Papebrock of which the Welsh saint, Sampson,

{JpfenJ.ad ytt. S.Patricii, 17 Mart. son of Caw, was bishop in the sixth

p. fSf, r.) cites a passage from the century (Rees,/f^/M Smnts^y^xit),

Life of St. Ailbe, which, however. It is probable, therefore, tnat the

he dor» not give in full : * A Roma * gentiles' spoken of were in Gaul

permit in mie« gentium, ct magna or Brittany. It follows, if this be true,

pai>. gentilium credidit . . . dcinde that St. Ailbc's return from Rome

rrtiit to ciritatem Dolomoir cum cannot be dated much before 524.
ept^coput illius civilatis Sampson

2o6 Ailhe lived In the sixth Century. [iimtoD.

He then set sail to Ireland in a very bad ship,
^ in navi vilissima,' and reached a port in the
northern part of the country, where one of his
Col mans built a cell or church, which was called
Ctll-ruadb *, the red church. The author adds
that this was in Dal-aradia (Co. of Down), and
that St. Ailbe was a native of the district. But
this is evidently a mistake ^, and contradicts what
this same biographer had said before, that he was
bom in Munster. Ailbe then made a circuit of
all Ireland, preaching baptism. He converted
many, but not all ; for God had reserved for St
Patrick the privilege of converting all the Irish
to the faith.
St. Ailbe Such is the story. But it is not possible to

flourished in 'I'l i -ii i«i_

the sixth reconcile its chronology with the statement of the
century. j^.^j^ authcutic auuals^, that St. Ailbe died in 527*
or according to another date, 541. If he had been
a bishop so long before the mission of St. Patricky
A.D. 432, as to have converted foreign Gentiles,
and made a missionary circuit of Ireland, he must
have lived to a very advanced age.
of A^more ^4' ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^™ ^^^^ uarrativc, that Ailbe
^""""o^s^ and Dcclan were regarded as contemporaries.
Ailbe. They were students in Rome together, and rc-

1 Cill-ruadh. See Reeves, EccL — Bolland., Actt. SS. id. im Scpt^

Antiq. of Dtrjim, Connor, &c., p. 245. p. 17, f.

' Mistake. The cause of the * Annals. The Four Matten

error is obvious. The people of give the death of St. Ailbe mt 541.

the country of which Ailbe was a In the Annals of Tighemach, and

native are called * populus Araden- Ulster, and also in the

sium, hoc est, illius terrse qua: Ara Annals of Inisfallcn, the ' Paimtio*

dicitur/ meaning the barony of Ara of St. Ailbe is dated 516 (ss5ft7) ;

or Duharra, in the Co. ofTipperary. but the Annals of Ulster give m

The biographer confounded this second date, A.D. 541.

with Dal-aradia, in the Co. of Down.

History and Date of St. Declan. zoy

Ireland together in the same company,
r whatever reduction we are compelled
in the early age assigned to St. Ailbe^

apply to the history of Declan.

was of the tribe of the Desi, or Desii,
I from Fiacha Suidhe, son of Fedlimidh
• (or the Lawgiver), who was King* of
om A.D. 164 to 174. The three sons

Suidhe had been banished from their
crritory, the barony of Deece, County
, and took possession of the districts in
:y of Waterford, still called Decies, after
' of their clan. This was about the

:lan was born in the country of the Ocociiocy
Dcsi '\ of which his father Ere is said cUm.^
been a chieftain. His genealogy, as
the Latin Life, makes Ere fifteenth in
rom Fedlimidh Rechtmar, who died
This would bring the birth of Declan

O* Flaherty, Of^gia^ it is orobable that the genealogy has

mnslates his name thus been made too lonff. Far tX"

T. ample, Lugadh Niadh is split into

c O'Donovan, Book two, and made Luaghiudh, son of

^, note, and p. 1 84. Niut ; but the genealogy given in the

ty, O^^ia, p. 339. Irish authorities is evidently as much

stor)' of the cause<^ too short as this u too long : giving

rheir expulsion from onlv seven or eight descents (sec

y Keating, Reign of Colgan, Actt. SS., p. 73, col. a^.

rt. The Mart, of Donegal b in error in

^ther is called ' Dux tracinc^ Declan to Eochadh Finn,

e Latin Life of De- son of Fedlimidh Rechtmar, instead

PrfiPiori.jp. 782. But of to Fiacha Suidhe; for if that

definite article, and were true he would not be of the

ie% 'the Desi ' or Desi, to which tribe his whole history
shows him to have belonged. The

V\t. S. Derlani, cap. recurrence of the same names in

Hand. torn. v. Julii, the^ ^nealogics is the cause of the

copyists have made confusion,
tie Irish namri, and

^o8 Declan Jived in the seventh Century. [nrmoD.

to near the middle of the seventh century, which
is probably too late.
Baptized by His parents were converted to Christianity in
of aoyn^ their own country by a certain presbyter named
Colman, who afterwards became a bishop. The
child was baptized by Colman, who gave him
the name of Declan.

It is clear that the Colman here intended must
have been the celebrated Munster saint, Colman,
son of Lenin, founder of the Church of Cloyne,
who died a.d. 600^; for otherwise he could
scarcely have been named without any patronymic
or other title to distinguish him from the great
number of Colmans who flourished in that age.
Educated by Whcu scvcu ycars old, the boy Declan was
sent to a holy man who had just returned firom
abroad to Ireland, which was his native country.
This man's name was Dimma, or Dima ; he had
established himself in a cell in the neighbourhood,
and is described as a religious * and wise man,
proved in the faith of Christ. Besides Declan,
Dimma had another pupil named Carbre, son
of Colum, who afterwards became a holy and
venerable bishop.

This Dimma is believed^ to have been the

* A.D. 600. This is the date Mart, of Donegal, who ttp (6 J***

given by the Four Masters. Ware, p. 7), * I think this is the P^

who is corrected by Harris, gives 4 bubh, son of Aongus, &c. I tfcjf*

Nov. 604, which ought to be 14 that he is the Dima to whom ^

Nov. 600. — BishopSy p. 573. clan was sent to be educitcd." *J

^ Religious. * Qui fuit vir religiosus also Reeves, EccL Ami, rfD^na^^

et sapiens, atque probatus in Christi Cohhw^ pp. 149, 140, who tty* jj

fide.' — rit. DeclaniyC. ^,n. 16. the Annals of Ulster erroiK<**v

' Belie*ueii. This opinion is sup- call him Dimmmmgert, The efjjj

ported by the high authority of however, is Dr. O'Conor'5. 1*J

Michael O'Clcry, compiler of the t me reading of the Ann. of ^^'*'

Dimma.

NTROD.] Consecrated a Bishop for Ireland. 2og

Dimma Dubh (Dimma the Black), who was
ifterwards Bishop of Connor, and died 658. He
kvas of the great Munster family of the Dal Cais,
md of the clan called Sil-mBlod, or seed of
Blod, son of Cas, of the race of Oilioll Olum.^
3e was therefore very likely to have settled
)riginally near the birthplace of St. Declan. But
f he lived to 658 his pupil Declan could not
)ossibly have been a bishop in ^02,.

After remaining some time under the in- Decian con-
traction of Dimma, Declan, we are told, set out ^p. *
or Rome. There he met St. Ailbe, and was
onsecrated a bishop, receiving from the Pope a
pecial commission to return to his own country,
nd evangelize the Irish people.

Several Christians, amongst whom was * the Ms meeting
on of the king of the Romans, named Lunanus,'^ Patrick.*
ollowed him to Ireland, desiring to live with
lim in pilgrimage. Before quitting Italy, how-
ver, Declan met St. Patrick, then on his way
o Rome, and of course before his consecration.
^. firm friendship was cemented between the
wo saints, and they separated with the kiss of
>eace. This meeting is dated by Ussher^ ^oz ;
:he same year in which Patrick met also St.
I^iaran, and, according to the prophecy already
loticcd (for this date has no better foundation).

"i /)iww/z«/]^^. Colgan has collected ^ Lunanus, Vit. Declan., cap.

Imost all that is known of him, iii. Who this Lunanus was is not

^ctt. SS.y 6 Jan. easy to guess.

^ OiUoU Olum. Oilioll Olum was * Ussher, Index Chron« in anno^
^ingof Munster, A. D. 237. OTla-
lerty, Ogyg.^ p. 327.

2IO His Settlement in Ireland. [nmwD.

thirty years before the arrival of St. Patrick in
his episcopal character in Ireland.
His cell St. Declan, on his return to his native coun-

with seven . ^ .

ascetics near try, dcvotcd himsclf cspccially to the conversion
of his own tribe, the Dcsii. He visited also the
spot where he was himself born, a place called
Maghscethi, near Lismore ; and there he estab-
lished ^ a cell,' in which he placed seven men,
whom he had been the means of converting
to Christianity before he left Ireland : their
names, which are all Irish, were Mochellog,
Bean, Colman, Lachnin, or Lachtin, Mothey,
or more correctly Mobhi, Finnluch, and Caimin.
Although Colgan^ adopting the date of 402,
arbitrarily places these saints in the fifth cen-
tury, there cannot be a doubt that they belong
more properly to the middle or latter end of
the sixth.^ But to discuss this question would
carry us too far from our immediate object.
His visit to Declan then made an attempt to convert the
ofMenevia. king of Cashcl, Acngus, son of Natfriach, but
was unsuccessful, and soon after paid another
visit to Rome. On his return he visited St*
David, in his city of Killmuine or Mcncfi^f
and remained there forty days, celebrating
mass himself daily. At the end of th^^
time, with the kiss of peace and benediction ^'
the most holy bishop St. David, he sailed *^
Ireland. The year 540 is the most probat>^^

* Colgan, Actt. SS.y ad 7 Mart., • Sixth, See the reasons givcim ^

p. 511 ; Triad. Thaum.y p. 251. Lanigan, i. p. %f.

nrROD.] His Monastery of Ardmare. 211

ate^ that can be assigned to St. David's conse-
ration, and it seems almost certain that he was
live after the year 560. Colgan^ says that he
ved to 607 or 608. If this be so, and if Declan
as a bishop in 40:3, he must have reached a
^ry advanced age v^hen he visited St. David at
lenevia.

On his voyage to Ireland he was miraculously His mohai-
aided to a spot called Ard-na-gcaorach, ^ the A^d^ore.
ill of the sheep/ altitudo ovhim^, but to which
e afterwards gave the name of Ard-mor, ' the
reat hill, or height,' which it still retains ; and
ere he fixed his church and monastery.

Some time after Declan^ had established him- DecUn
elf in Ireland, St. Ailbe/ who was then in his st'^beof
•wn city Imleach Ixibhair^, finding his death ^"^^'
pproaching, set out to visit his old friend. St.
3eclan hearing this went forth to meet him, to

place called Druim-luchra, from whence he
onducted him with all honour to the monastery
►f Ardmor. Ailbe remained there fourteen days,
nd then returned home to die. This must have
>een about the year gzy, or, if we adopt the later
late of St. Ailbe's death, 541 ; and even assum-
ng this later date, it will be necessary to conclude

* Diztf. Lanigan i. p. 470; 31, Giraldus Cambrensis says that
^ees, Welsh Saints, p. 201. In the St. David died on Tuesday, ist of
^ft^aUs Cambria, his death is en- March ( t/jjA^, Pr//«., p. 526). This
Ted at the year 601. The Life of would indicate the years 600 or 606.
^ David, attributed to Giraldus ^ Altitudo o*vium, Vit. Decl., c.
•3^mbrensis, and published by iv. n. 32.

^barton in the Anglia Sacra, is full "• Declan, Ibid. c. viii. n. 68.

f anachronisms, and assumes the * Imleach lubhair, ' The marsh

"^th of the ante-Patrician bishops, of the yew tree,' now Emly.

* Colgan, Actt. SS, p. 432, note

P 2

21 Z Legend of St. Ultan of Ardhraccan. [nmioD.

that the visit to St. David in Wales must have
taken place either in the very same year, or else
soon after the meeting with St. Ailbc. At all
events, it follow^s that Declan survived Ailbe some
years, and probably lived to the beginning of the
seventh century.
Legend of There is a curious legend told in the Life
Ardbnccan. of Declau which will fully confirm this later
date. Ultan ^ we are told, was one of Declan*s
disciples. A fleet of gentiles appeared on the
coast, with the intention of plundering the
monastery. The inmates all ran to Declan for
protection, who called to his disciple Ultan, and
desired him to make the sign of the cross in the
direction of the ships. Instantly they all sank lik(
lead into the sea, and the sailors who attempt
to swim to shore were turned into great rocks — -
But Ultan had made the sacred sign with hi^^
left hand, and not with his right: his ri^^*^

hand ^ having been at the time otherwise occu

pied ; and hence came the saying used by the Irisfcr^
when in peril, ' May Ultan*s left hand be agains^ — *
it!'

This story is told of Ultan of Ardbraccan irra
the Scholia on the Metrical Calendar of Acngiu-^
the Culdee, which have already been frequently
quoted ; and an antient poem is there citedi 10
which it is said that if Ultan had used his ri^^
hand on the occasion, instead of his lef^i n^

« Ultam, Vit. S. Declan., c. ix. dassem/— /T/. ^.Zlrr/., c. ui.,B.7f-

n. 71. ' £t idhuc Scoti, ridentcf ct aafi-

* Right hand, ' Occupatus tunc entespericluniydicunt,MaBiiUiiuiK'

dextra manu, signavit tinistra contra Ultani contia iUud/— 1^. n. 71*

] Ultan and Declan of the same Clan. 213

;n fleet would ever again have effected a

ig in Ireland.

is also stated in the same Scholia^ and the Date of su

is alluded to in the text of Acngus, that ^'
Jltan took charitable care of the children
z mothers died of the 'yellow' or 'straw-
red plague/^ which was so fatal a scourge in
ritish Islands about the middle of the seventh
ry. This gives us his date, and the Annals
ghernach record his death at a.d. 6^y. We
therefore suppose Declan to have lived at a

later time than the Life assigns to him, or
•t. Ultan must have died at a very advanced

The latter alternative is adopted by Col-
)n the authority of the Four Masters', who
I to him the great age of 1 80.

Ultan was the bishop of the tribe called uitanofthe
>al Conchubhair, or Connor, a branch of the sTd^luu**
)f Meath. He was therefore of the same clan
lily as St. Declan, and it is highly probable

)//a: at4Sept. The original spread throueh Munster, but was

the scholium here alluded particularly ratal at Cashel, in the

k a translation, has been time of Declan and of Kin? Aon-

n the Introd. to the Book of gus, son of Natfriach. The dead

/ Martyrol. of Christ Churchy bodies are described as * caerulea ct

The first yello^w plague in flava cadavera,* which seems to iden-

is dated 534, but it became tify it with the Buidhe CAonaiii, or

rly fatal in 548, and appears flava ictericia of the sixth century,

continued until about 560. But Aongus was killed in 48 9, more

as a second outbreak of the than 50 years before the first pesti«

ra.se in 656, which continued lence. Here, then, is an anachronism

al years. See Mr. Wilde^s which leads to the suspicion that

Report on the Tables of Declan ought to be placed in the

part V. of The Census of seventh century.

1856; a document con- ' four Masters. At a.d. 656.

in amount of learning and The Annals of Ulster give two dates

1 information not commonly for his death, 656 and 66a. The

a blue book. Calendar of Donegal (at Sept. 4}

^. The Life of Declan makes makes his age 189.

of a plague which had

2T4 St. Ibar of Begery Island. [wtrod.

that he was in fact Declan*s disciple.^ It is also
expressly stated that St. Declan had visited the
district of Meath, which was the original seat of
his tribe, and had there founded a monastery",
where he left a remarkable copy of the Gospels,
which was held in great honour, and believed to
possess miraculous powers. Here in all proba-
bility he placed St. Ultan.

But it is not necessary to prolong this discus —

sion. It must suffice to observe, that in thc=

Scholia to the Calendar of Acngus*, Declan i^

expressly said to have been the pupil of St

Moling, who died in 6g6, according to the=

Four Masters, or more correctly 6gy. This i-^

perhaps a mistake. But it shows that the autho ::

of the Scholia was not acquainted with the legencz:

that Declan was a precursor of St. Patrick.

St. Ibar of 85. It rcmaius now to speak of St. Ibar. H^

isia^Z was ofthe family of UiEachachUladh, the anticn ^

fe^iy." inhabitants of the baronies called Iveagh* in th^^

county of Down. They were a tribe of the Oil —

* Disciple, Colgan, Actt, SS.y p. on Aongus is surely a much high^*'

608, maintains that this legend does authority. ^

not refer to St. Ultan of Ardbraccan, ■ Mmuutery, Vit. Decl., c. ▼*■'

and he has assumed that the Ultan n. 5. The biographer dlk tkmi*

who was a disciple of St. Declan « Monasterium canoniconim,* th****

was not Ultan of Ardbraccan, but betraying his own late date.
another Ultan, of whom we seem • Aemgus, At 34 July. Tf»*

to know nothing, except that his Scholix^ says: * Decian, of Ai**"

name occurs as * Ultan of M agh- more, was the pupil of Motingi •»■**

nidh,' in the Irish Calendars at the he is [buried] at leach Moling [a»^

14th March. Cal. of Donegaly p. 77. St. Mullin's, Co. Carlow], or ete**

The Mart, of Tallaght (Brussells Lismore.'

MS.) calls this latter personage * I*ueagk, This word is a cutiup "^

« Ultan h. Aignigh,' or grandson of tion of the ablative fbrniy Uibt*

Aigncch. It is a purely arbitrary Each.ich. TTic name Ui EochadI'

assumption, as indeed Colgan ad- Uladh, signifies 'descendants of EfH-

mits, to make the Ultaa of 14 Manh chad of Ulster.' See Rcercs i€(L

St. Declan^s disciple. The Scholiast Ant.ofDwim amd CpMHTip. 114, ifi

iNTROD.] A Disciple of St. Patrick. 2,1^

ghialla, or Oriel, situated in the district of Tuath
Ex)chadha, or Eochadh's territory, which was
called by the English ^Toaghie' or 'the Toaghie/
and is included in the present barony of Ar-
magh.^

The Life of St. Bridgid by Anmchad or Ani-
mosus, a composition attributed by Colgan to the
latter half of the tenth century, speaks of St. Ibar^
as ' a sower of the faith in many parts of Ireland,
before the most blessed Patrick ; ' and if Colgan's
conjecture as to the age of the writer be correct,
this is the oldest authority in which the fable of
ante-Patrician bishops is alluded to. We must
therefore be allowed to suspect, either that the
passage is an interpolation, or that Animosus
should be placed at least a century later than
Colgan's date.

Jocelin^ speaks expressly of Ibar as a disciple Adiscipicof

Sf Patriclc

of Patrick, and even Colgan^ notwithstanding

the inconsistency, has inserted his name, with that

of Ailbe, in the list of St. Patrick's disciples.

But it is still more important to observe that the

antient author, Tirechan, quoted by Ussher^ from

the book of Armagh, names Ibar as one of the

bishops consecrated by St. Patrick ; and when

* Armagh, See Dr. O'Donovan's ' Jocelin, ' Injunxit ibi duobus
notcz, Book of Rights, p. 148. cpiscopis Albeo ct Ibaro discipuli$

* St. Ibar. 'Sanctus Hibarus cpi- suis/ Fit, S, Patricii, c. 83. Col-
scopus, qui seminator fidei multis in gan, ih, p. 84.

J«is in Hibernia ftiit ante beatissi- ^ Colgan, Tr. Th., p. 265.

">«m Patricium/ — ^uarta Fit. S. * Ussher. Primord., p. 950. Be-

^'Tif.,lib.ii. c.*3; Colgan, Tr.Ti^.jp. tham's Irish Antiq. Researches,

553> Ussher quotes these words from part ii. Append, p. xx.
in anonymous Life of St. Bridget,
Primordtay p. 794.

2i6 Ibars Contest with St. Patrick, [introd.

to this wc add that he is said to have died*

Date of his A.D. 500 OF 503, the evidence seems complete

against the opinion that he was a bishop in

Ireland before a.d. 43:3. Some authorities* add

that he died at the advanced age of 303 years.

This would make him to have been born a.d.

200. But such a supposition is not neccssaiy

to reconcile the chronology, even though wc

suppose him to have been a bishop in the year

400.

Contest of A siugular story is told by the Scholiast on

sl plo^ck. Aengus, which, if known to the biographers of

St. Patrick, has been entirely suppressed by

them : —

* This was the bishop Ibar,* says the writer,
^ who had the great conflict with Patrick ; and
it was he that kept the roads full and the houses
empty in Ard-Macha. Then the man^ Patrick
became angry with him, so that he said, * Thou
shalt not be in Erinn,' said Patrick. * But Eri
shall be the name of the place where I shall be,*
said bishop Ibar. * For this reason it was named
Beg-Eri [little Eri, or little Ireland] ; it is an
island that is in Ui Ccnnselaigh*, and it is out
in the sea.'

This seems to indicate a contest for juris-

^ Died. Tighcrnach dates his Patrick, < Patrick himself,* ' the very

obit 503 ; Ann. of Ulster, 489 or Patrick.'

500, and again 503 $ Four Masters, ^ Ui Cenmseln^k. The countiy

500 ; Ann. of Clonmacnois, 504. inhabited by the Ui Cennselaigb, or

' Authorities, Tighernach savs descendants of EnnaCennselach, who

303; the Four Nfasters and the was kingof Lcinster in the fourth

Mart, of Donegal, 304 ; the Scho- century. Beg-cri, now Begery, or

liast on Aengus, 333. Beerin island, is situated in the baj

* The man Patrick. This is of Wexford, about two and a huf

only an emphatic way of saying miles from the town.

iNTROD.] and its ultimate Settlement. 2,1 y

diction at Armagh ; and around Armagh, it
should be remembered, was the hereditary dis-
trict which belonged to Ibar's family. It is
remarkable that the story given in the Life of
Declan, of the composition made by St. Patrick AUeged
and the prelates of Munster, in the court of h^t^n^
King Aengus at Cashel, represents Ibar as at ST^Utof
first strongly dissentient, and very reluctantly at °^^"""^-
length induced to submit.^ This narrative is as
follows : —

' The four bishops aforesaid, who were in Ireland before St.
Patrick, having been sent from Rome, as he also was, namely,
Ailbe, Declan, Kieran, and Ibar, were not of the same mind
as St. Patrick, but differed with him ; nevertheless, in the end
they came to an agreement with him.

* Kieran, indeed, yielded all subjection, and concord, and
supremacy' to St. Patrick, both when he was present and
absent. But Ailbe, seeing that the great men' of Ireland were
running after Patrick, came to St. Patrick in the city of
Cashel, and there, with all humility, accepted him as his mas-
ter in presence of King Aongus ; this, however, had not been
his original intention. For those bishops * had previously con-
stituted Ailbe their master, and therefore he came to St. Patrick
before them, lest they, on his account, should resist Patrick.
But Ibar, by no argument, could be induced to agree with St.
Patrick, or to be subject to him. For he was unwilling to re-
ceive a patron of Ireland from a foreign nation : and Patrick
Hras by birth a Briton, although nurtured in Ireland, having
been taken captive in his boyhood. And Ibar and Patrick had
at first great conflicts ^ together, but afterwards, at the persua-
sion of an angel, they made peace, and concord, and fraternity
together.

' Submit, Vit. S. Declan., c. v. * Those bishops: meaning Kieran,

*^- 39» 40. Declan, and Ibar.

^ Supremacy. * Omnem subjectio- * Conflicts. ' Conflictus magnos.*

ncm, et concordiam, ac magisterium The same word which is used by

^edit.' the Scholiast on Aengus.

' Great men, * Majores Hiber-
nise/

ZiS The alleged Composition between [umioD.

' Declan, indeed, was unwilling to resist St. Patrick, because
he had before made fraternity with him in Italy : but neither
did he think of becoming his subject, inasmuch as he also had
the apostolic dignity : but having been at length admonished by
an angel, he came to Patrick to do his will. For the angel of
the Lord came to St. Declan, and said unto him, ^^ Go now
quickly to St. Patrick, and prevent him from cursing thy tribe
and thy country, for he is this night in a place which is called
Hynneon, in the midst of the plain of Femhin ^, in the northern
district of the Desii, and he is fasting in reference to the chief>
tain of thy tribe ; and if he should curse thy tribe, cursed shall
it be for ever."

^ Then St. Declan, with all haste, in accordance with the
bidding of the angel, went forth that very night to the aforesaid
place Hynneon (which is in the midst of the plain of Femhin,
in the northern district of the Desii), through Mount Gua,
i.e. Sliabh Gua*, across the Suir, and in the morning reached
St. Patrick. Then St. Patrick saw St. Declan and his people :
and Declan was honourably received by St. Patrick and his
people. Then St. Declan humbled himself before St. Patrick,
and prayed him not to curse the clan or country of the Desii : and
promised submission to his will. And St. Patrick said unto him,
** Because thou intercedest for them, I wiU rather bless them." '

stAiibe The nature of the agreement that was ulti-

Mwpoii- mately entered into, by which St. Ailbc was
mIiLw. constituted Metropolitan of Munster, is then
described. It is remarkable that no mention is
made either of Kieran or of Ibar, as having been
included. The arrangement was not that which
was afterwards sanctioned by Cardinal Paparo,

* Femhin. Magh Femhin, or ovan^s note), also Book of Rights,

the plain of Femhin, is a district, p. 92, note.

comprising that part of the Co. * Sliabh Gua : or Sliabh Cua, the

of Tipperary which belongs to the antient name of the range of moun-

diocesc of Lismore, including the tains separating the counties of

present baronies of Iffa and Offa. Waterford and 1 ippenuy, and now

Hynneon, is the place called Inneoin called Knockmeilidown mountains.

nan Desi, or Mallagh-inneona, near See Four Masters, A.M. 3790, and

the town of Clonmell. See Four Dr. 0'Donovan*s note.
Master>, a.d. 852 (and Dr. O'Don-

iNTROD.] Sl Patrick and the Bishops of Munster. 219

in which Cashel, not Emly, was made the archi-
episcopal see. We may therefore conclude that
the author of St. Declan*s Life must have lived
at the end of the eleventh, or beginning of the
twelfth century, before the ecclesiastical arrange-
ments of the dioceses, as ultimately established,
were known. His narrative^ is as follows : —

' St. Patrick, St. Ailbe, and St. Declan, with many of their
holy disciples, during their sojourn in the city of Cashel, with
King Aengus, made many regulations for ecclesiastical rule and
Christian vigor, and for the further propagation of the Christian
Faith. Then St. Patrick and King Aengus, with all his people,
ordained that the Archbishopric of Munster should be in the
city and see of St. Ailbe, who was then by them ordained
archbishop for ever. They appointed also to St. Declan the
territories which he had converted from paganism to the faith,
namely, the Desii ; that they should be in the jurisdiction of
his bishopric [ut ipsi in parochia episcopatus ejus essent], which'
is great and glorious ; and that the Irish in other places should
be subject to St. Patrick, so that the tribe of the Desii might
render all obedience to their patron, St. Declan. Then St.
Patrick, the ArchpontifF and Patron of all Ireland [archipontifex
et patronus totius Hibernise] sang to them the following verse
in the Scotic tongue, as a kind of oracle, having the force of
law. Which verse the family * of St. Ailbe, and the femily of
St. Declan would never suffer to be turned into Latin for
trheir own use, either in metre or rhyme ; to give it, therefore,
t:he greater authority, we shall here quote it in the original and
genuine language in which it was pronounced and composed by
St. Patrick. Thus, then, the stanza is expressed in the Scotic : —

^* Ailbhe umhal, Patruig Mumhan, mo gach rath,

Declan Padruig nanDesi, nanDesi ag Declan go brath."

In these words * it was decreed that Ailbe should be the second

* Narrati*vf. Vit. S. Declan., c. ' Family. This word, signifying

vi. n. 47. It will be observed that the Monastic Society, has been al-

the diocese here assigned to Declan ready explained.
"Was the territory of his clan, the • Hoards. Ussher, Prim.y p. 866

t)esii. Sec above, p. 38. (Works, vi. p. 427, 8), and Colgan,

2^o Origin and Purpose of the Story [nrmon.

Patrick and Patron of Munster, and Declan the second Patrick
and Patron of the Desii ; and that the Desii should be his dicH
cese to the end of the world.

' Then the holy bishops, giving King Aengus their blessing,
went forth with the kiss of peace, with spiritual joy, to spread
the Divine work.*

Silence of 86. Thc Livcs of St. Patrick tell us that he
sl Patrick laboured yor seven years in Munster^ travelling
bL^o,!^*' through every part of the province, receiving
Muiwter, ^^ic hoHiagc of kings and chieftains, and making
converts to the faith ; but they say not a word
of any former labourers in the same district, nor
of the archiepiscopal jurisdiction said to have
been established with the consent of St. Patrick
at Emly and Ardmore.
Silence of T\it auticut Calendar of Aengus also, although
t^M^^ it commemorates Ciaran, Ailbe, Declan, and
Ibar, says not a word of their having preceded
St. Patrick as preachers of the faith. And it
will be observed that they were all Munster
bishops ; not all of Munster descent, or belong-
ing to Munster families, but all having their
principal churches or monasteries in Munster.
Origin and It sccms pcrfcctly manifest, therefore, that thc
^^^^of whole story of bishops sent from Rome to thc
blfoTst. south of Ireland, before St. Patrick, was invented

Patrick.

TV. TA., p. loiy have given this thc difTerences do not iffcct our pre-

extract from thc Life of Declan. sent purpose.
Thc Irish verses literally translated * Munster. Vit. Trip. iii. c. 54.

signify *. < Desercnte Patricio MumoDuun in

Humble Ailbe is the Patrick of Muniter, qua scptem annis continuis juxtrn

di< " ' '

With all my honour. supra dictis laboravit, ct

Decbn is the Patrick of the Desii ; ad extrcmos ejus fineSy moitttnnmC

The Desii are with Declan for ever. totius Provincue magnates et populi

The copy of Declan \s Life used sc tanto spiritualis Patris ct Aportoli

by Ussher and Colgan differs from duci dcsidcrio ct itfcctu,* &c.—

that printed by the BoUandists, but Colgan, Tr, Tkamm.^ p. 159.

] of Ante-Patriclan Bishops. zzi

at the beginning of the eleventh (perhaps we
should say the twelfth) century, for the purpose of
laying the foundation of a claim for the establish-
ment of archiepiscopal jurisdiction in the south.
When the question was mooted, to divide the
country into dioceses, it became a matter of some
importance to the chieftains or ^ kings,' as they
were called, of Munster and Connaught, to have
archbishops of their own. Had the whole island
been placed under the metropolitical jurisdiction
of Armagh, the kings of Munster and Connaught
would frequently have felt much inconvenience,
from their bishops being in subjection to a prelate
who was necessarily under the influence, and
generally himself a clansman, of the great north-
ern family of O'Neill. They laboured, there-
fore, strenuously to induce the people and the
ecclesiastics to clamour for archbishoprics of their
own; and hence the story that the south of
Ireland had been evangelized before St. Patrick,
and that although God had reserved for Patrick
the honour of a complete conversion of the Irish,
nevertheless the four Munster missionaries had
received episcopal consecration at Rome, and
had been commissioned to evangelize the country
at least thirty years before the mission of St.
Patrick.

87. But, although we are compelled to reject bobtedcoo-
thisstory as unworthy of credit, it cannot be denied c^!d^
that the traditions of Irish Church history speak ^^^
of isolated congregations of Christians in Ireland
before the arrival of Patrick. A curious anec-

222i The Altar and Glass Chalices [nmioD,

dote bearing on this subject is told in two of the
legendary lives of the apostle — that by Jocelin of
Fumes, and that which is generally called the
Tripartite \ from its being divided into three
books. We shall quote the story as it is told in
this latter authority^: —

' After crossing the Shannon, Patrick and his
companions came to a place called Dumba-graidb^
and there he ordained the excellent presbyter
Ailbe. He it is who is [commemorated, or buried^]
in the Church of Senchua, in the country of
the Ui Oiliolla. But when the things necessary
for divine service and sacred vessels were wanting,
the holy prelate, divinely instructed, pointed out
to the presbyter in a certain stone cave of won-
derful workmanship, an altar under ground, hav-
ing on its four corners four chalices of glass ; and
because of the glass he admonished them to dig
very cautiously, saying : —

' Cavendum ne frangantur ore • fbssune'

This story is certainly antient : for it occurs
in the Book of Armagh, where, however, no
mention is made of the glass chalices, nor of the
cavc^ but only that St. Patrick showed Ailbc

^ Tripartite, Joceline undoubtedly * Ore, The Irish Triputilt file

lived at the close of the twelfth cen- reads here or/r, which is no doubc

tury. The Tripartite life is attri- right. The meaning seeim to be,

buted to St. Evin, a writer of the ' beware of breaking the edges of

seven! h century. It was orieinally the excavation.*

written in Irish, but is now known * Cave, The woids are ' Et

only by Colgan's Latin version. An venierunt (/fV) per aiveum fluminit

imperfect and apparently abridged Sinnae qui dicitur Bsadem ad tumw

copy of the Irish is preserved in lum GraJiy in quo loco ordiiiaTit

the British Museum. Ailbeum sanctum prespitenim (isr)»

' Authority. Vit. Tripart., lib. ii. cui indicavit altare mirabile liqiideimi

c. 35 {Triad. Thaum.y p. 134). in montenepotum Ailelio.* Bmk^

iNTROD.] of Dumba- Graldb. 2 23

* a wonderful stone altar on (or in) a mountain
oftheUiOiliolla/^

The existence of such an altar, which was
known to St. Patrick, most probably from infor-
mation obtained from the inhabitants, is a curious
incidental proof that Christianity existed before
his time in this remote district. The cave, if
w^e adopt that part of the story, was probably
a rudely constructed chapel, on the side of a
mountain, chosen for the sake of concealment,
and built up when the few Christians, to whose
use it was dedicated, were forced to leave the
district. It is possible that the visit of St.
Patrick to the place, and the ordination of his
disciple Ailbe, were suggested by his knowledge
that such an altar existed, and his wish to restore,
in a spot so consecrated, the celebration of the
sacred mysteries.

The mention of the four glass chalices, which
however does not occur in the more antient
form of the story, is curious : for it is well known
that chalices of glass ^ were in very antient times

Armagh^iol. II. b a. It will be ob- their name from Oilioll or Ailioll,
served that the place called in Irish son of Eochaidh Muigh-mheadon,
Dumha-graidk is here translated king of Connaught, who, in 358,
Tumtiluj'gradi I the word Dumha became king of Ireland. — O'Fla-
signifying a mound. Neither this herty, Ogyg, iii. c. 79, p. 373, 3745
p&ce nor the part of the Shannon and see Appendix A to this Intro-
called Bandea is now known. duction, Table i, p. 249.

* UiOilioUa. The tribe nameUi ^ Glass, It is known that in the fifth
Oiliolla or UiAiliolla^i.e. descendants century vessels of glass were used in
of Oilioll or Ailioll, is here given the Eucharist, but it should he borne
to the territory inhabited by the in mind that at that time glass was a
tribe, according to the usual Irish costly material. In the Life of St.
custom. The district is the present Hilary of Aries, who was a con-
barony of Tirerrill, a corruption of temporary of St. Patrick (^Actt, SS,j
Tir-Oiliolla (Land of Oilioll), in Bolland. ad 5 Maii), we are told
the Co. Sligo. This tribe derived that he sold all the treasures of his

2Z4 Joceltns Version of the Story. [nnnoo.

employed in the administration of the eucha-
rist, although afterwards prohibited, in conse-
quence of the danger of breakage. The mention
of this cave, with its altar and chalices, seems so
incidental, and is so entirely devoid of any appa-
rent purpose, that we can scarcely doubt the sub—
stantial truth of the legend,
jocdin'. Jocelin represents the newly-ordained pries, n

2fZ^l Ailbe as having complained ^ to St. Patrick tha^.!
he had not the necessary sacred vessels for tl^k^e

celebration of the divine service ; and thcrefoc c

St. Patrick showed him the altar and its fu^^-
niture in the subterraneous cave. Jocelin thc=-n
adds, ^ By whom this altar was made, and witz=:h
its chalices there set up, is as yet unknown ^Czo
us. Some think that they belonged to thrmc
bishop Palladius or to his companions, and wci
left there after his departure.'^

It does not appear from this that Jocelin
acquainted with the story of the four bishop? ^^^
missionaries in Ireland before Palladius; fec^::^
otherwise he would in all probability have su^^^
gcsted that this cave and its altar might hav^^*^
been set up by Ciaran, Ailbe, Ibar, or Dcdaa^^
or some of their disciples.* With respect tc^^

church for the redemption of cap- quod sibi deessent necenarU

tives, * quousque ad patenas et calices dotali ministerio. Sanctus, <

vitreos.' The author of this life, instructus, indicavit presbytefoquod*' ^^

v^hich is also in the collection of dam altare mirandi operis habcm n^^^

Surius, was Honoratus, bishop of quatuor angulis, quatuor cmliccs vi-^ ^

Marseilles, 'claruit anno 490/ — treos,' &c. — Colgan, Tr. n., p. t9.«<- ^^

Cave, f/ij/. Liter, Sec also Bona, ' Departure, Jocelin {FitM Sex*^^^^

Rer. Liiurt^.y lib. i. c. 25, n. i. /a), c. 105, Triad* Tkamm.^ p. I9.— - ^

Baronius, >^xrff., A.D.216. Bingham, ' Discifies, This is, in fact, whit^'^

Antiq.f book viii. ch. 6, sect. 21. Colgan has suggested. He nys ^^^

* Complained, ' Ordinatus pres- * Hinc coUige hdem Christi funM ^^

hyter conqutstus est S. Patricio, in aliquibus partibus Hibemiap "=*-^

umioii.] Palladlus sent to Christian Scots. 22 S

Palladius, as Colgan remarks, we have no record
of his having extended his labours to Connaught.
There is no reason to suppose that he ever went
beyond the province of Leinster. Therefore
this altar must have been the remains of the
devotion of some antient and isolated congre-
gation of Christians, who were settled for a time
before the arrival of Palladius or of Patrick, in
the remote district of the Ui Oiliolk.

But conclusive evidence of the existence of MWion of
some Christianity in Ireland before St. Patrick * * ****'
b derived from the words of Prosper of Aquitaine,
who tells us in his Chronicle that Pope Celestine
sent Palladius to the Scots, who were already
believers in Christ, * ad Scotos credentes in
Christo ;' and the same statement is repeated by
Bcde. We shall have occasion presently to speak

rultanif ante advcntum S. Patricii.
Quod aliqui conjiciunt calices istos
cum altari fuivse ibi aHscunditos
per Palladium cjusve di«cipulo(i, vel
per S. Hibanim, vel S. Alvcum, vcl
ctiam Kicranum Sagtrcnseni * [hut
nobody bas made this latter sugges>
tkfo] *mihi nunapprohatur tanquam
rett) fttmile. Nam Palladius eodcra
anno auo vmit in Hibemiam, inde
liccnftit ; Dec legitur ipse, vel ejus
dbcipttli ultra fine^ Lagenix uspiam
profrcti per Hibcraiam/ — "Triad,
Tlumm.^ p. 113, note no. It is
to be obvnrcd that the Ailbe, who
was ordained a presbyter on this oc-
cason, must be a different penon
from the St. Ailbe of Kmly, of whom
we have already spoken, and who is
laid to have been a bishop in Irebnd
before Palladius or St. Patrick. We
axe fold that he was of the Church
Off Scochua, DOW Shancoc, in the
county of Sligo. The Four Mas-

ters record the death of * Aillie of
Senchua-Ua-Oililda/ a.d. 545, and
Tigernach at 541. The annals of
Tigernach were dated by OTU-
herty : and here he seems to have
made a mistake. For the year of
Ailbc's death is marked * Kal. ii.'
i. c. the first of Jan. was oxiferia ii.
or Monda]^. The Sundav letter
was, therefore, G, which mdicates
either the year 540 or 546. Ailbe
is called Cruimther, the Gaelic form
of the word Presbyter^ by Marianus
O'Gorman, and the Mart, of Tal-
laght, at Jan. 30, but without any
mention of Scnchua, or any other
criterion to identify him with the
Ailbe ordained priest bv St. Patrick.
The Mart, of Donegal (same day)
telLs us that he was <son of Ronan,
of the race of Conall Gulban, son
of Niall.* See Appendix A, Table
II., Gen. 88, p. 250.

Z26 -E^^c/ of Clanship upon the [unnoD.

more at length on the history of Palladius. It
must suffice to observe now that his mission
obliged him, not so much to preach to the
heathen, as to gather together into regularly
organised congregations the scattered Christians
who were to be found in the country; to supply
them as far as possible with clergy; and to pro —
vide for them such permanent means of grace a*^
might save them and their children from thc=
danger of relapsing into idolatry.
The spirit 88. We have said enough to give the reader ^s

ofClanship . ^ i« • • rr • .r>t • •

pervaded general view of the peculiarities of Irish Chnstia —
chureh. nity during the period to which the following pagc^
relate. It will be seen that the spirit of clanships
pervaded the antient Church of Ireland, as it dicis
all the other institutions of the country. Th^»
genealogical descent of the chieftain from th^^
common ancestor of the clan was his surest title —
deed to the possession of his lands, the tbun —
dation of his influence and authority. For hims, -i
as the visible representative and head of thei^
race, the clan would gladly shed their bloody J
and sacrifice the most sacred rights and afiections^
of man. And so also the bishop or abbat was^
the successor, the co-arb or heir, of the honoured^
saint by whom his church or monastery wasasi
founded. In him that saint still lived and spake, ^
as his recognised representative on earth; and ^
when the same individual, as was not unfrc- '
quently the case, was at the same time spiritual
co-arb and temporal chieftain, the loyalty of his
subjects was confirmed by a double bond, the

nnrtoo.] Irish Ecclesiastical Institutions. 22y

strongest and most indissoluble by which man ,
can be bound to man.

To a clannish people it is not merely a habit^ amihip
but a matter of necessity, to follow a guide — to ^iZh^ ^
be led by a superior and unquestionable authority. **'*^**^*
They care not for arguments, proofs, or reasons. ]

They ask only to receive a command from a chief- '

tain, whose right to command nobody can dream
of questioning. It is not too much to say that
this spirit of clanship is the key to Irish history.

The measures adopted in the reign of James I. AboUdonof
for the abolition of hereditary clanship, were ^*j^l
calculated at first sight to abolish great and
crj'ing evils. They were a step in the direction
of improved civilisation. They would doubtless
have been endorsed by the modem science of
political economy, had the modern science of
political economy been then in existence. They
aimed at abolishing the arbitrary exactions ^ of
the chieftains, which were intolerably burdensome
to the people, and which, to say nothing of their
c\nl moral influence, destroyed all possibility of
agricultural and social improvement. But with
all these advantages, the destruction of the chief-
tain's power was productive of new and unex-
pected evils. The change was too sudden and
too violent. Neither chieftains nor people were
prepared for it. Very many chieftains were in-
duced— perhaps it would be more true to say
compelled — to resign to the crown their antient

> Exiutwu, See Ware's Antiq., Orig. Latin, capp. Tiii. xiii. j Harm's
Edit. chap. xi. xii.

^zS Cofisequences of the Abolition [omioo.

rights and territories, receiving back again their
lands under a royal patent, in which the power
of taxing and exacting ad libitum from the clan
was abolished, and rents ^ in money f payable to
the chieftain, substituted in stead; and monry,
it should be remembered, was a variable standud
of value, not very generally understood at that
time. The chieftain, in fact, became a landlord,
and his clansmen tenants. But neither chieftain
nor clansmen understood their new position. The
clansman, no doubt, felt relief from the opprcs*
sion, which in disturbed times had become intolc*
rable, of cosberings^ bonagbt, coinnmedb^ or coignc,
and the rest. But the idea of paying rent^ subject
to ejectment, for a farm which had been held by
his ancestors from time immemorial was quite
unintelligible to him. He would have infinitely
preferred the anticnt oppressive enactments, al-
though they were to cost him an hundred per
cent, more than the new rent. The result was
that the chieftain, in his new character of land*
lord, lost his antient rights, under the Irish
Brehon laws, but was unable to recover his new
rights under the laws of the English Parliament.
It will be remembered, also, that down to the
middle of the seventeenth centur}', not only the

' Rents. Sir John Davi«, attomev* ticular^ and his I riUi duties a> ftktr*

fcncril tur I reland, and speaker of tnc f Jtj^ , sestim^s^ rents nf hutttr^ mmimt-

rUh House of C'oinmonH in the rcif;n niro/r , an ^ the like, are reaiaaihlv

of Jamr<»I.,thuMlcvrihcHthcpnM'csN: valued, and reduced into rcmiae

' Where an Irish L4»rd doth differ to Mimnrn of money, to be paid in lieu

fturremii-r hisiountry, and hoM it at thereof.* — Discvvtry §/ tke trmf

the rmwn, his own proper put^ev- camses *wky IrtlamJ nums mevtr jbI»

Mont in dcmckDcare drawn intoa/or- dm J. Lond. 1 6 1 a, p. 159 jy.

J

iNTROD.] of Clanship under James L zzg

populace, but even the gentry, were unable to
speak the English language. They were, there-
fore, not only ignorant of the new law under
which they found themselves, but incapable of
becoming acquainted with it. No steps were
taken to instruct them. It was necessary to sup-
port the law by a military force ; and hence, as
Sir John Davis says, 'the circuits of justice,
by which the people were made independent of
their Lords, did more terrific the loose and ydle
persons, than the execution of the martial law
itself, though the martial were more quick and
sodaine/

It came to pass, therefore, as the natural The chief-
consequence of this state of things, that the S^y^,
cliieftains were suddenly* impoverished. They p°^""***^-
besieged the Lord Deputy and the Court with
petitions for relief; and many of them, dis-
satisfied with their reception at Court, fled to
foreign countries, and took military service under
foreign powers. Thus the people were left with-
^^t their accustomed guidance ; their head, the
representative of their race, the arbitrator of
^^eir disputes, the dispenser of their laws, was
^n absentee. The modern English law courts
provided no substitute ; their proceedings were
Conducted in a foreign language ; they made no

Suddenly, * The greatnesse and State they might take some aid and

?^w of those Irish Lordes sodainly contribution of their people j and

*^ and vanished, insomuch that, some of them, being impatient of

^^ting means to defray their ordi- their domination, fled out of the

^^ charges, they resorted ordinarily realme to foreign countries/ — Sir

^^ ^c Lorde Deputy, and petitioned J, Davis, DUcovny &c., ihU^
^at by license and warrant of the

230 Two hostile Churches in Ireland [introd.

allowance for the inveterate customs and pre-
judices of the people ; their tone was hostile
and contemptuous ; and they were therefore not
unfrcquently the dispensers of injustice : * sum-
mum jus summa injuria/ In short, they were
regarded by the people with terror and dislike.
Thepcasan- Thus thc peasantry, left without their accus-

try laid open , ' ''

to foreign tomcd guides, and exasperated against their new
rulers, became the victims of foreign intriguers.
The foundation was laid for that tendency to
insurrection and to agrarian outrage which has
exhibited itself so prominently in Irish histor}%
even to our own times.
Their But notwithstanding this, there appeared a

tSlVcWcfi phenomenon which has puzzled historians, and
unshaken, g^j-^jy cxaspcratcd political partisans. When-
ever a chieftain* lifted his finger, he was followed
at once by his people. They followed him alike,
whether he supported the English crown, or thc
enemies of the English crown. They followed
him even after the period of the Reformation,
in opposition to what we might presume to have
been their religious prejudices. They fought
with their chieftain on the side of Queen Eliza-^
bcth, although she had been excommunicated,
by the sec of Rome, and her subjects absolvccL
from their allegiance.*

89. And equally disastrous was the result pro-

> Chieftmn, A good instance in -cf EwglanJ^ iii. p. 671 sq,

evidence of what is here said will ' Altegiance, Sec Dr. O^CSonor's

be found in thc story of Balldearg Historical Address^ p. 1 1 jy. C6-

0*Donnell so late as the year 1 690, lumbanus ad Hibirms, No. t.
as it is told by Lord Macaulay^ HijU

f mrmoo.] shice the Eleventh Century. ^3 f

duced by the measures adopted in reference to Twoho«tiie
the Church. The Danish bishops of Waterford Sh^*****"
and Dublin in the eleventh century had received "k^lh
consecration from the see of Canterbury, entirely ^^^•
ignoring the Irish Church and the successors of
St. Patrick. From that time there have been
two Churches in Ireland. The Anglo-Norman
settlers ignored also the native bishops ; and they
did so under the authority of the Court of Rome,
in virtue of the donation of Ireland to Henry
II. by the celebrated Bull of the only English
Pope, Nicholas Breakspeare, better known by his
papal title of Adrian IV.

That document described the Irish as bar- BuUofPope
barians, and exhorted the King to make known ^^^^ ^'

* the true Christian faith to those ignorant and ^
uncivilised tribes,' as if there had never been '
any Christianity in the land from whose mis- j
sionaries half of Europe had received its Chris- 1
tianity. The King was authorised * to enter /A^^
the island for the purpose of bringing the people

into subjection to law ; to exterminate the nurse-
ries of vices from the country,' and especially

* to pay to St. Peter an annual tribute of one
penny for every house in the country ;' pre-
ser\ing, however, the Pope takes care to add,

* the ecclesiastical rights of that land ' — that is to
say, his own assumed rights in that land — un-
injured and inviolate.^

» Jm/wlaU, S« Mr. O'CalUp- the Reman BuWznum.^Dejtructimt
hMi'% mnark^ on thw bull, and the of Cjpruj, p. 142 sq. (published fbr
original Latin gircn by him from the Irish Archaeological Society).

232 Evil Consequences of the Attempt [ikteoo.

This commission the English monarch exe-
cuted by filling the country with needy adven-
turers, thirsting for spoil, reckless of human life,
and looking out greedily for every pretence to
confiscate the lands of the Irish chieftains. On
these principles, or rather, we should say, for
these ends, they governed the country.

At first, indeed, and for a considerable period
after the invasion of Henry II., the native chief-
tains submitted with a good grace to English
rule, and generally used their influence in support
of the Crown. But at length the licentious
outrages of the colonists, together with the
unwise policy adopted by the English govern-
ment, irritated and exasperated the native lords, .
and produced those bitter feuds and animosities,
the effects of which continue to the present .
dav. ^

Li«^to The impolitic attempt was made to compel

eIibTuh the Irish to adopt English manners, under
pretence of bringing the whole nation under
English law. Whether or not the advisers of
the crown really desired and hoped for this latter
result, the measures adopted, as might have
easily been foreseen, produced consequences
dircctiv the reverse. The two nations became
permanently and completely separated. It was
assumed that by an act of Parliament, making
confiscation or imprisonment the punishment
of disolnrdicncc, an entire nation could be com-
pelled in a moment to abandon their national
habits, their national dress, yea, their native

en fierce
English
mannert.

nrniOD*

] to enforce English Manners. 2$^

language, and to adopt at once the customs, the
dress, and the language of another people. Let
it be admitted that the Irishman of that day
was a barbarian ; his costume uncouth ; his na-
tional usages and his language barbarous ; it did
not follow that he was to be deprived of the
rights of citizenship and equal law; that he
should be denied security for his life and pro-
perty, and subjected to a treatment which was
in its tendency nothing short of extermination.
This was indeed to make him a barbarian, and
at the same time to punish him for being a
barbarian.

Irritated at length beyond endurance, and TheEngiuh
driven to extremities by injustice and oppression, jrish7h^r*
the Irish chieftains had recourse to arms; the IhL^wL
English of the pale, and the colonists in remote
parts of Ireland, were attacked, plundered, and
massacred. Hence it came to pass that the
settlers in Connaught, and the more distant
regions of Munstcr, seeing that their brethren
of the pale could give them no support, were
forced to conciliate the Irish. They intermar-
ried with the natives, and gradually adopted the
manners and customs, the laws, and even the
language of the people ; in a word, they became,
according to the well-known reproach, * more
Irish than the Irish themselves ' — ' ipsis Hibemis
Hibcmiorcs.'

90. To check this evil now became the object stitiite ©r
of the English government ; and no better mode fj^J*""^'
of doing so suggested itself, than to enact pains

234 Penal Enactments of the [unnoD. j

and penalties to compel the degenerate English »
who had in fact renounced their allegiance to
the crown, to return to obedience. The famo\B.s
statute enacted in the Parliament held at Kil —
kcnny* in 1367 had this for its object. t t
declared alliances with the Irish by marriag^s=,
fostering, gossipred &c. to be high treason. H!t
denounced the old Brehon law as * wicked aim. d
damnable/ and enacted that all who followed 5t
should be accounted traitors.^

It is not denied that the statute of Kilkenramy
contained some good and useful enactmen^r^.
But its general tendency was to erect a hars^h
and impassable barrier between the two nation^ ^•
Penal en- Thc IHshmau dwelling within the Engli^^-h
agaiMtthe palc, who did not adopt the English dress an^^d
thc English language, was to be punished b^^^y

confiscation of his land and property, or if k^^^
had no land and property, by imprisonment, unt-:^===^"
he submitted. The English were commandc ^=^^
not to allow an Irishman to graze his cattle upoc:^ ^^
their lands. It was made penal to present a*:^--*
Irishman to any ecclesiastical benefice ; and i -^
was also made penal for any religious housc^^
* situated amongst thc English,' that is to say "^^
within thc English pale, ' to receive any Irish-' ^
man to their profession, but,' it is added, * thcy^'^

' Kilkenny. This statute was referred to.
printed (for the first time) by the * Tr attars. Sec thc extract

Irish ArchxoWical Society, with Sir John Davis^s * Discoveric of

the very valuable notes of the late causes why Ireland never wis mI

James Hardiman. To this work the dued/ quoted by Mr.

reader is referred for f\ill information Stat. ofXiUtenttj^ Prcf. p. viii. Jf.

on the period of Irish history here

wTEoo.] Statute of Kilkenny. 235

may receive any Englishman, without taking into
consideration whether he be born in England
or in Ireland/

Thus it appears that the Irishman was sub-
jected to these disabilities, and excluded even
from the monastic profession, simply because he
was of Irish blood ; for it will be observed that
the native of Ireland who was of English blood
was exempted. Nor was any provision made for
the relaxation of this prohibition in the case of
an Irishman who had conformed to English
usages. His Irish blood was his crime. This
clearly appears from the exception (the only
exception permitted by the statute), in favour
of the native of Ireland who was of English
descent.

The concluding section of the statute of Kil- smcdoncd

* • by the

kcnny contains the names of three archbishops BUhoptand
and five bishops,* who pledge themselves to ofRMJc
denounce the spiritual sentence of excommuni-
cation against all violators of the act. These
prelates all owed their promotion to papal pro-
visions : some of them were consecrated at
Avignon, where the papal court was then held ;
and it is evident that they must have been

* BisM9ps. Stat, of Kilkenny, p. Lcighlin ; and John [dc Swafham],
119. The names are, Thomas of Cloyne. It i* evident from this
[M\-not], Archbishop of Dublin } list that some prelates of Irish sur-
Thomas [O'CarroU], of Cashel ; names, and probably therefore of
J<>hn [O'Grada], of Tuam; Thomas Irish blood, had succeeded in ob-
[Le Rere], of Lismore and Water- taining the confidence of the Anglo-
ford ; Thomas [0*Cormacan), of Irish government. So that we must
Killaloe; William, Bishop ot Os- not infer that all who bore Irish
%orT, who is not, however, included names were necessarily disaffected
in the received lists of the prelates to the English rule.
of that yet J John [Young], of

i^6 Remomt ranee of the Irish Chief taltts [unnoD.

Abfence of
the Arch-
bishop of
Armagh.

Remon-
ttrance of
the Irish
rhieftaioi,
13 1 7.

consenting parties to the statute, including the
clause which protected the monks of the English
pale from the possibility of having their devotions
contaminated by the presence of a mere Irish
brother.

The absence of the Archbishop of Armagh
and his suffragans from the Kilkenny Parliament
may be accounted for by the controversy then
at its height between the sees of Dublin and
Armagh for precedency. The Archbishop of
Armagh at the time was an Englishman, Milo
Sweetman, and was nominated to his sec by
Pope Innocent VI. Most of the other bishops
of Ireland were also at that time the nominees
of the Court of Rome, and as a matter of
course the representatives of its policy. Rome,
therefore, must be considered to have been as
fully responsible as England for the great political
mistake of erecting the unhappy wall of dis-
tinction between the native Irish, ' the King*s
Irish rebels,' as they were called, and the Anglo-
Norman colonists of the pale.

We read of no remonstrance or protest having
been ever made against this unjust oppression of
the natives by the bishops of that day, whether
they were present or not at the convention oi
Kilkenny. It is evident that they were all in
the English interest, and that the English in-
terest was supported also by the Court of Rome.

91. But the statute of Kilkenny, of which
we are speaking, was only the re-enactment,
with more stringent penalties, of a series of older

iNTROD.] to Fope John XXII. 2^7

statutes framed in the same spirit. Fifty years be-
fore, the chieftains and nobles of Ireland, headed
by Domhnall O'Neill, styling himself * King of
Ulster, and rightful successor to the throne of
all Ireland,' addressed a remonstrance* to Pope
John XXII. against the injustice and outrages
of the English colonists. They begin by assert-
ing the great antiquity and original independence
of the monarchy of Ireland. They complain that
Pope Adrian, acting on the representation, * false
and fiill of iniquity,' made to him by Henry II.,
King of England, and blinded by his own ' Eng-
lish prejudices,' as being himself an Englishman,
had made over to the English monarch the realm
of Ireland ; thus bestowing de facto upon a sove-
reign, who for his murder of St. Thomas of
Canterbury 'ought rather have been deprived
of his own,' a kingdom which ' de jure the Pope
had no right to bestow,' and that this grant was
the real source of all the miseries of their country.
* For ever since that time ' (they proceed^ to
say), ' when the English, upon occasion of the
^rant aforesaid, and under the mask of a sort of
outward sanctity and religion, made their unprin-
cipled aggression upon the territories of our
realm, they have been endeavouring, with all
their might, and with every art which perfidy

* Remonstrance. It is preserved Domhnall O'Neill died in 1325.

in the Scotichronicon of Fordun, Sec his Genealogy, in Dr. O'Don-

<dited by Hearne, iii. p. 908 sq, ovan's * Circuit of Ireland," p 63

8vo, 0;ro».i722. Mr. King has pub- (published by the Irish Arcnaeol,

Jished an English translation of it Society, 1841).

in the supplementary volume to his ' Proceed, Mr. King^s translation

Church History of Ireland, p. 1119. is here followed.

violated.

^53 8 Remonstrance of the Irish Chieftains [urmoo.

could employ, completely to exterminate and
utterly to eradicate our people from the country/
And they add, 'We hold it as an imdoubtcd
truth, that in consequence of the aforesaid false
suggestion S and the grant thereupon founded,
more than fifty thousand persons of the two
nations, from the time when the grant was
made to the present date, have perished by the
sword, independently of those who have been
worn out by famine or destroyed in dungeons/
The ccmdi- The rcmoHstrants then proceed to show that
Sl?tBuu ' Henry II. and the English sovereigns, his suc-
cessors, had violated the conditions upon which
Ireland was granted to them in the papal bull ;
they had not paid to St. Peter, as they were
enjoined to do, a penny annually for every house ;
they had not enlarged the boundaries of the Irish
Church; on the contrary, they had plundered
the endowments of the Cathedral Churches,
abolished ecclesiastical privileges of every kind. ^
and imprisoned the Irish bishops and prelates <
They had barbariscd and depraved the people
Ireland, instead of enlightening and civilising -^
them, as Pope Adrian had intended. The rc^^
monstrants then go on to specify some gros^'
instances of misrule, arbitrary cruelties, and in--^^
justice, perpetrated by the English, and permittcd£>
if not encouraged, by their administration of th» Mri
law.

Among these instances of oppression, a proo'

' Suggestion. Nfcaning the sue- Pope as to the barbarous
gestion made by Henry II. to the Ireland.

iNTROD.] to Fope John XXII. 2^9

minent place is given to the regulation which Exdudonof
prohibited the admission of a native Irishman to from the
any of the religious houses of the pale ; a regu- ^ofatto^ii.
lation w^hich the remonstrants say was made
law by the influence of the Anglo-Norman
clergy, in 'an iniquitous statute' enacted at
Kilkenny, alluding, not to the statute of Kil-
kenny of 1367, already quoted, but to an older
statute, which has never been printed, in which
the same enactment was contained. They fur-
ther say, that ' even before this statute, the
preaching friars, and the minors, monks and ?
canons, and other English, were in the habit of
observing this practice,' — the practice, namely, of
refusing to receive any Irish to the monastic pro-
fession ; ' and yet,* they add, * the monasteries
for monks and canons, from which in modem ^
times the Irish are thus repulsed, were founded, 1
for the most part, by themselves/

The authors of this letter dwell also with Thcmur-
natural and just indignation upon the fact that iShml^
the murder of an Irishman was not punished as Sdli^" sin,
a felony* by the practice of the English courts "d'asT"^'
of justice. They say, ' It is not merely their ^^^°"y-
Hay and secular persons, but even some of the
:religious among them, who assert the heretical
doctrine that it is no more sin to kill an Irish-
xnan than to kill a dog, or any other brute

* Felony. That this was so, is ad- as it was no capital ofFcnce to kill

^^-nitted by Sir J. Davis in his Dis- them ; and this is manifest by many

^roveriej &c. * Lastly * (he says) *the recoids/ — Historical Tracts by Sir

^Tiere Irish were not only accounted JoAn Do'vis, p. 88 sq, London 8vo.

^^iens, but enemies, and altogether 1786.
^Dut of the protection of the law j so

240 T^be Pope's Reply. [ikthod.

animal \ and they quote some examples (for
which the reader must be referred to the letter
itself), showing that this doctrine was not only
taught, but fully acted upon by the monks and
canons of several abbeys, accusing especially of
this abominable tenet the members of the Cis-
tercian and Franciscan orders.
Alliance of Thc chicftaius conclude by announcing to
with Bruce, thc Popc thcif intcutiou of seeking redress by
ol^cL force of arms from this intolerable tyranny, in-
viting to their aid and assistance ^ Edward do
Bruce, the illustrious Earl of Carrick, brother-
German of the most illustrious Lord Robert, by
the grace of God King of the Scots, and a
descendant of some of the most noble of our
own ancestors/ And then, after dilating on thc
merits of Bruce, and the advantages of the pro-
posed alliance with him, they make the follow-
ing request : —

* May it please thee, therefore, most HoVj
Father, out of a regard for justice and the publ ^
peace, mercifully to sanction our proceedings "^
relation to our said Lord thc King ; prohibitii^^
the King of England and our adversaries afor^^
said from farther molestation of us. Or, at leas — ^
be graciously pleased to enforce for us from thc^S
the requirements of justice/

The Pope does not appear to have given aK^ -
encouragement to the proposed insurrection,
to have communicated directly with the authcrr:^
of the remonstrance. He took the intermedi^^
course of writing to King Eklward II., a Ictt^'C

iNTROD.] Two distinct Churches in Ireland. 241

still extant/ in which he recommends him for
his own sake, and for the sake of religion, to
redress the evils complained of, if the statements
of the complainants should be found to have any
foundation in fact. He transmitted also to the
King a copy of the remonstrance of the Irish
chieftains, together with a copy of the bull of
Pope Adrian IV.

The result was what might have been ex-
pected. The King referred the matter to his
Irish Parliament, and the Irish Parliament re-
turned for answer that the petition of the chief-
tains could not be granted, without material
injury to the King and his government.

92. But this is not the place to enlarge upon Two
the history of these transactions. It must suf- chl^cLsin
lice to make here one or two general remarks, ^^l^^^^^
In the first place it will be seen that there were two ^''^''""*-
Churches in Ireland separated from each other,
w ithout any essential difference of discipline or
doctrine, at a period long previous to the Re-
formation. The Church of the English Pale
was at first strongly supported by all the power
of the Court of Rome. The Church of the
native Irish was discountenanced and ignored by
Rome, as well as by England. It consisted of
the old Irish clergy and inmates of the monas-
teries, beyond the limits of the English Pale,
A\ho had not adopted the English manners or

^ Extant. It has been published Mac Geoghegan, Hist, de flrlande,
\)y Peter Lombard, De Regno Hiber- ii. p. 1 16.
aj/>, Lrvan. 1632, p. 260. See also

* R

don.

124^ Ti&^ Reformation rejected [wtrcd.

language, and who were therefore dealt with as
rebels, and compelled to seek for support from the
charity or devotion of the people. Many of these
took refuge in foreign countries, or connected
themselves with foreign emissaries, hostile to
England, at home ; but at a subsequent period,
when the Anglo-Irish Church had accepted the
Reformation, the ^ mere Irish * clergy were found
to have become practically extinct. Their epis-
copacy had merged into, or become identified with
the episcopacy which was recognised by the law.
Missionary bishops and priests, therefore, ordained
abroad, were sent into Ireland to support the in-
terests of Rome ; and from them is derived a third
Church, in close communion with the See of
Rome, which has now assumed the forms and
dimensions of a national established religion.
Hatred of It Will bc sccu also that the deadly hatred of
caused by Euglaud and of everything English, which has
dWfrcnccs. unfortunatcly for so many centuries rankled iiv
the native Irish heart, was not at first created bj^
any differences in religion. It originated, ani^
had reached its height, at a time when the onl^
ditfcrcnce in religion was that the Establishes^ '
Church of the English Pale was more thoroughl]^ ^
devoted to Rome, and more completely under -
Papal, or, as we would now say, ultramontane^ i
influence, than the antient clergy and bishops oc^
the aboriginal Irish ever were, or could have been. ^
The Re- It is iudccd highly probable that had thc-^

formation cr ^ i

rejected at Reformation been presented to the Irish people:^
in a (jaclic dress and in the Gaelic language^
it would have been accepted without difficulty—^

iNTROD.] as coming from England. 1343

But, unfortunately, the reverse was the case. The
Reformation was almost studiously brought into
Ireland in ostentatious connection with the
Church of the Pale and the English colonists :
it was planted on the basis of Puritanism and
iconoclastic outrage; and to this day the in-
fluence of that unhappy mistake continues to
destroy the usefulness and to paralyse the ener-
gies of the Irislf clergy. The reformed doctrines
were regarded by the oppressed and degraded
natives of Ireland as essentially English ; and
accordingly they were rejected without exami-
nation, and spurned with the detestation and
abhorrence with which the English, and every-
thing coming from England, were, as a matter
of course, received.

When the Court of Rome, therefore, quar-
relled with the Court of England, and excom-
municated the sovereigns of England, all its
former complicity with England was forgotten.
The fact so prominently put forward in the
Remonstrance to Pope John XXII., that the
English crown laid claim to the sovereignty of
Ireland on the authority of a papal bull, was
forgotten. The fact that the Anglo-Irish Church
had for almost four centuries been supported
by Papal power, and the antient clergy, of Irish
descent, and of Irish tongue, banished from their
livings, and suffered to become extinct by Papal
policy, was forgotten also. The fact that the
Pope had now become the deadly enemy of
England, was enough to turn the scale the other

244 ^^^ Penal Laws. [mnoo.

way. The Pope had still great power; that
power was sure to be exerted against the En-
glish. Ireland, therefore, gave herself to the
Pope, in the hope that by the influence of the
Papal power, and by the aid of those European
nations who were hostile to England, the Anglo-
Norman colony in Ireland might at length be
extirpated, or at least expelled.
Indirect With all thc blcssings, therefore, which were

^iiTof the the essential concomitants of the Reformation,
tioi^™* th^s unfortunate result was an indirect conse-
quence of it. Ireland was thrown open more
completely than it ever was before to thc in-
trigues of foreign adventurers. Spain poured in
her emissaries ; begging friars and foreign priests,
or native priests educated abroad, went about as
preachers of sedition ; the old chieftains, or their
successors returned, and stirred up thc old spirit
of clanship, in the hope of recovering their lands
by the expulsion of the English.

The result was insurrection and bloodshed,
continued with unrelenting energy through a
long series of years ; sometimes in the form of
local outbreaks ; sometimes rising to the dignity of
civil war, conducted with a fury which justified,
if anything could justify, the demolition of the
castles and other strongholds of the chieftains
by Cromwell, thc compulsory exile of the mul-
titudes who were driven by his policy from their
native land, and the final confiscations of Wil-
liam III.
Uw.'^or^ 93- It was at this latter period that religious

iNTROD.] The Legislative Union. 245

distrust unfortunately led to the enactment of Cromweu
those unhappy penal laws, whose ill consequences wuiiamiii.
have continued to the present day. It is true
that the enlightened principles of modern legis-
lation have done much to check the evil, and to
repair the wrong. The legislative union of the
three kingdoms; the full concession of equal
rights to all ; the education of the people ; the
firm foundation upon which the tenure of land in
Ireland, once the source of so much bloodshed,
has now been placed — all these things must
necessarily in no long time work a cure, which
is already far advanced, and of which the gene-
ration now living will probably witness the
completion.

It is worthy of remark, however, that the The union
Union of Great Britain and Ireland, essential as Britain and
it was to the advance of civili:2ation, and the
establishment of a right feeling between the
two countries, was nevertheless productive also of
indirect evil. It induced many of the landlords
to follow the Parliament to London, and to
leave the management of their estates to their
agents or stewards. The consequences which
had resulted from the sudden destruction of the
chieftains two centuries before, were reproduced
in another form. The people were deprived of
the guides to whom they had begun to look up,
almost as they had looked up of old to their
hereditary chieftains. The people had not lost
their clannish feelings. It was impossible for
them to do without some guides. The leaders

*R 3

346 Tbe Legislative Union. [unnoD.

who presented themselves were peculiarly unfitted
to become the political guides of the people.
They were themselves, for the most part, of the
same race as the peasantry. They were natu-
rally infected with all the old hatred of England,
which had become the characteristic of the class
to which they belonged. They viewed every-
thing through the distorted medium of that
unfortunate prejudice. The people were taught
to regard themselves as still living in a state of
war ; the oppressed victims of superior and hos-
tile force.

But this evil also is now greatly diminished.
It is quite possible now for an Irish landlord,
without any neglect of his parliamentary duties,
to spend as much time in his Irish estate as an
English landlord spends ordinarily at his pro-
perty in an English county. The le^timate
influence of the nobility and gentry has begun
to be felt, and has already in a great measure
undermined the trade of political agitation. Let
us hope that there may soon be nothing to agitate
about ; that all classes may soon learn to forget
and to forgive what is past, and to thank God
for the great blessings that are present; the
equal enjoyment by all subjects of the British
Crown, without distinction of race or religion,
of the inestimable privileges of the British Con-
stitution.

APPENDIX

TO

THE INTRODUCTION

A.

Genealogical tables of Kings and other Personages mentioned
in the foregoing Introduction.

The eminent Irish Antiquary, Roderick 0*Flaherty,* has
endeavoured, with great ingenuity and learning, to reconcile the
Irish Bardic traditions and genealogies with the received dates
of sacred and profane history. He adopted, indeed, almost all
those traditions with implicit faith as true history. No im-
probability in the narratives created any scruple in his mind ;
but for this very reason his pages exhibit a faithfid transcript of
the historical traditions of Ireland, clothed with the most seemly
garments of consistency which they are capable of receiving.
Firmly persuaded that the pedigrees of the antient Irish families
could be traced to the patriarchal age, O 'Flaherty has not
hesitated to affix to the names of his kings and chieftains the
number which indicated, according to the Bardic genealogies,
their distance in generations from our first parent Adam.

We are not, however, bound to reject all these traditions as
mere fabrications. The later genealogies, especially, are found
to harmonise in so remarkable a manner with each other, and
with the history, that it is impossible not to receive them as
founded upon truth.

The object of the following tables is simply to furnish the

* O" Flaherty. See his * Ogygia, seu rerura Hibernicanim Chronologia.*
4^0. Lond., 1685.

24^ Appendix A. [iktrod.

reader with an easy mode of seeing at a glance the relationship
assumed to exist amongst the personages mentioned in these
pages, and to prevent the necessity of frequently intemipdng
the narrative by explanatory notices of such relationship.

The settlement in Ireland of the Scotic or Gaedhelic colony
is assigned by the bards to the year looo B.C. It is said to
have come from Spain, led by the sons of Golam Miled, i. e.
Miles or the Knight. That word having been converted into
a proper name, he is usually termed Milesius, and his posterity
Milesians. Two of his sons Eber or Heber, and Herimon,
having ultimately obtained sovereignty over the rest, divided
Ireland between them. Eber took the southern half, and
became the ancestor of the great Munster families ; Herimon
received the northern half, and from him were descended
almost all ^ the kings of Ireland, from the middle of the third
century to the virtual overthrow of the Irish monarchy in the
eleventh century. This arrangement, however, was pardy
deranged in later times by internal dissensions.

The families and kings of the race of Herimon, descended
from Eochaidh Muighmeadhon, through his celebrated son King
Niall of the nine hostages, will be found to play the principal
part in the history of St. Patrick and his successors, down to
the beginning of the eleventh century. The following tables
are therefore confined to them. The names of the Kings of
Ireland will be followed by the letter K, with the years marking
the beginning and the end of their reigns. The names of
Saints are printed in Italics, and followed by the day of the
month on which they are commemorated in the calendar of the
Irish Church, with the years of their deaths. OTlahcrty's
generation numbers are prefixed to each name, for the conve-
nience of reference, and because they show very deariy the
parallel lines of the genealogies according to his chronology«

^ Almost all. From the reign the paternal uncle of Golam or

of Cormac Ulfhada, a.d. 254, to Milesius, had also descendants fran

that of Brian Boromha, a.d. 1002, whom some kinn were choaen, but

there were but three exceptions to the last king of this line was Lugadh

this rule, viz. Brian, himself, and MacCon, a.d. 150. There were also

Crimthan, a.d. 365, who were both several kings of the posterity of Hir,

of the race of Eber, and Coelbad son of M iTesiu% the last of whom

of the race of Hir, a.d. 357. Ith, was Coelbad, above mentioiicd.

wHTioD.] Genealogical Tables. 1349

TABLE I.

General View of the Lines of Kings descended from Eochaidh
Muighmeadhoin^ of the Race of Herimon.

■• Eochaidh, Muighmcadhoin, KL 358 — 366.
' I

•^ Niall of the Nine Hostages, »' Oilioll, " Fiachra Foltsnathach,

K. 379 — 405, slain on ancestor of ancestor of the

the banks of the Loire. the Ui Oiliolla, Hy Fiachrach.

j ofTirerrill, [ j

Co. ofSligo.
(See p. 222.)

Four sons an- Four sons an- " Dathi, K. 405 — 428, " Amalgaidh, K.

cestors of cestors of last Pagan KL of of Connaught

Northern Hy Niall Southern HyNiall Ireland, killed by a 407, converted

(See Table II.) (See Table III.) thunderbolt at the by St Patrick.

foot of the Alps.

•• OilioU Molt K. 463--483.
Last king of this line.

Between the Kings Eochaidh Muighmeadhoin and Niall of
the Nine Hostages succeeded Crimthan (K. 366 — 379),
descended from Oilioll Olum, king of Munster a.d. 237, of
the race of Eber. Crimthan was the only king of Ireland of
the Munster race, from this period to Brian Boromha,
A.D. 1002. (See Table VI.)

It will be seen from Table II., that two lines of Irish Kings,
both belonging to the Northern Hy Niall, were connected
with the Kings of Scotland : Ere or Erca, daughter of Loain-
mor, was successively married to two grandsons of Niall of the
Nine Hostages. To mark this relationship, her two sons
(Muirchertach, offspring of her first husband, and Sedna of her
second), from whom the two lines of Irish Kings were descended,
are each styled ' Mac Erca,* son of Ere ; the other sons of
the same fathers not being sons of Ere, and therefore not
connected with the Kings of Scotland.

^5o

Appendix A

[INTEOD.

<

I
^5^

I

•A

I

i
%

X

•s

is

I?.

g-Sg

I

If

1

1^

^]

t s

w

t

"a

nrrmoD.]

Genealogical Tables.

25'

S

-1 I-

L«

II

a^
^u

"8 -lAS:

J^ c JL

I .2 «

3 Y*
.— ? I

*ii

c

I

JE3

-I-

I

s

•I

7^ ^ri 1^

s

"e ^ JJ -

*^ « S "

c V -a J a.

C >-^ w jC V

S c -£ '^ ^
3

H c.ajg

i

'd

^5^

Appendix A.

[iimoD.

TABLE III.
Southern Hy NialL

^ Null of the Nine Hostages, K. 379—405.

■• Laoghaire,
K. 428—463.

** Lugaidhy
K. 483— 508.

' Feidhlimidh
I

•• Fortckmif
II Oct.

* Fergus

r

"* Conall Crimthann

I

" Fergus Cearbheoil

** Diarmait,
K. 544—565.

*> AedhSlaine,
K. 599—605.

>fL

•1 jleM mor •^ jledh htg

** Blathmac,
K. 658—665.

"^Diarmait,
K. 65S— 665.

» Sechnasach, K. 665 — 671.

TABLE IV.
Shewing the Relationship between St. Brigid and St. Columba.

** Feidhlimidh Rechtmar (or the Law-giver], K. 164 — 174.

I

■• Con of the Hundred Fight^

■* Eochaidh Finn Foduf

K. 177— iia.

*> Aongus Mcum

•» ArtAonfir,

1

K. lao— 150.

"Connac
1

» Cormac Ul&da,

•CurpKNndli

K. 254— 177.

••ArtCorb

■* Calrbre Liffiocair,

1

K, 279—296.

• Coolach, or GoBh

1

1

•* Eochaid 1

"Doi

*^ Fiacha Sraibhtine,

Doimhlcn

1

K. 296-327.

1

•'B^al

1

•» ColU Uait,

1

•* Muredach Tirech,

K.327-

-33".

"Demri

K. 331—356.

"Dabhticli

** Eochajdh Muighmeadhoin,

1

K, 358—366.

^Brigid^ykg.

See Tables LU.

1 Feb), 523.

INTROD.]

Genealogical Tables.

^53

TABLE V.

Shewing the Relationship between the Families of St. Erigid and
of her first Bishop Conlaedh.

^ Ugalne Mor (Hugonius Magnus), K.A.M. 3619— '3649.
I

" Cobhtach Cocl-brcg,
K. A.M. 3665—3682.

[Here follow in the MSS.
22 generations, which
O'Flahcrty has reduced
to 18 (See the longer
genealogy in Colgan Tr,
Tk, p. 447.) to]

" Feidhlimidh Rechtmar,

K. 164—174,

ancestor of St. Brigid.

(See Table IV.)

" Laoghaire Lore,
K.A.M. 3649— 3665.

[The MSS. give here
26 generations, re-
duced by O'Flaherty
to 15, to]

^ Cucorb, K. of Leinster,
l_

" Niacorb, K. of U "" Mesincorb,

I ancestor of the

" Cormac Geltagaoth, Dal Mesincorb, and of the

K. of L. Kings of Ldnster.

** Fedhlim Fiorurglas, " Eochaidn Lamderg

ICofL. I

I »• Fothad
•• Cathair Mfir,
ICofL. and I.
(See p. 255.)

" Nathi,
who resisted

Palladius

(nt. Trip.

St, Patr, i. 38),

and afterwards

St Patrick.

yit. 2i», cap. 24, 25,

mt. Trip. i. 42.

■• Garchu,
ancestor of the
Hy Garchon.

" Fmdchad
" Cucongelt

" ConaU

I
•« Sinill

"Ronan

I
■• CiUin

I

•* Marcan,

whose future

eminence was foretold

by St. Patrick.

Fit. Trip. iii. 17.

"Emri

«Setna

I
" Eochaidh

I
■• Aengus

•* Cormac

» Qmdlaedhy
3 May, 520
St Brigid's
first bishop.

** Eochaidh Lamdort,

« Fothad

I
** Fergus Lamderg

** Maine Eiges
(or the Sage)

•< Etchen of Cluanfbta,

1 1 Feb. 577, who
ordained St. Columba.

^54 Appendix A. [iimoD.

These femilies separated from their common ancestor at a
very early period. There is some discrepancy in the number
of generations, owing principally to the attempt made by the
bards to place the arrival of the Scots or Milesians in the reign
of Solomon, son of David. It would not be consistent with
our present purpose to discuss this subject, nor will it be
necessary to give in detail the long list of obscure names, some
of which from their similarity were probably repeated and
others omitted by antient transcribers. We have given, in the
foregoing Table, the lines of descent in an abbreviated form,
with ©'Flaherty's dates, and generation numbers.

It is evident that the genealogies of Conlaedh and of Etchen
in this table must be deficient in some generations. They
represent Conlaedh as five generations, or a century and a half
older than St. Bridgid; and Etchen as seven generations, or
more than two centuries older than St. Columba, whom he
ordained. There cannot, however, be a doubt that, making
allowance for the omission of some descents, the genealogies
are in the main correct. The Book of Lecan (foL 95, h)
tells us that ' Bishop Conlaedh, of Cill-dara,' was descended
from Emri, son of Fothad ; and that ' Bishop Etchen, son
of Maine Eiges, of Cluan-Fota-Baedain-Aba,* was descended
from Fergus Lamderg, son of another Fothad, but in neither
case are the intermediate steps of the descent given. These
difficulties seem to have been mainly caused by O'Flaherty's
corrections of the MS. authorities.

It is impossible, however, that Nathi, son of Garchu, can have
been contemporary with Palladius and St. Patrick, if we sup-
pose him to have lived six generations (at the lowest computa-
tion, 180 years) before Marcan, who, although in infancy, was
also contemporary with St. Patrick. But the Nathi, mentioned in
the Lives of St. Patrick, although there called ' Son of Garchu,*
may not have been literally his son^ but a great-grandson, or
some later descendant of the same name.

The genealogy of Marcan is taken from the Book of Lecan
{foL 95 ^), and is evidently quite consistent with the histoiy.
It has been given in the present Table, because there may be
occasion hereafter to refer to it.

It may be added, in further evidence of error in the gene-
alogy of St. Etchen, that Brig, or Briga, his mother, is repre-

iNTROD.] Genealogical Tables. 2^5 ,

sented as descended^ from Cathair mor, monarch of Ireland
(who was also of the family of Cucorb, King of Leinster),
according to the following pedigree : —

•• Cathair M^, K. 174 — 177.

" Fiac

I
^ Bresail Belach

" Labradh

** Enna Cennselach
■* Crimhthann

" Cootach

I
•^ Brig

This makes her three generztions younger than her son Etchenj
and shows that there must be an omission of at least that num-
ber of descents in his pedigree. This Brig, after the death of
her first husband, Maine-eiges, was married to Ainmire, King
of Ireland (Table II., No. 91), and became the mother of his
son, Aedh mac Ainmirech. It will be seen that the generation
numbers make her four generations older than her second hus-
band : so that there is probably a defect of some descents in
his pedigree also. But it would be foreign to our present pur-
pose to point out the causes of these errors, or the manner in
which they may, with most probability, be corrected.

TABLE VI.

TTie Kings of Ireland mentioned in the foregoing Tables^ in their
Chronological Order.

The Kings whose names are marked with an asterisk in the
following list belonged to families which did not come within
the scope of the preceding Tables, but they are nevertheless
inserted in their proper chronological places, in order that the
reader may have before him, without any break, a complete list
of the Irish Kings to whose reigns there may be some reference
in the present volume.

^ Descended, Sec Colgan's pedigree of Etchen, taken from his copies of
the Sanctilog. Genealog. — Actt, SS, p. 306, rotes 3,4^ 5 j and for the
pedigree of Briga, note 9, ilfid.

•r8

2j;6

Appendix A.

[iMTROD.

i Began

I to reign.

'J'able and |
Gen. No. I

Names of KJogi.

A.D.
164

'74

177

212

220
250

»77
279
297
3»7
33'
357
358
366

379
405
428
463
483
508
5'3
533
544
565

566

568

571
572

599

605
612
615
628
642

654
658

665

IV. 79

V. 80

IV. 80

82

IV. 81

82
82

IV. 82

84

IV. 83
IV. 84

rv. 85

IV. 85

86

I. 86

87
I. 87
I. 88

III. 88
I. 89

III. 89

II. 90

II. 90

III. 90

II. 91

II. 91

II. 92

II. 91

II. 91

n. 92

III. 91

II. 92

II. 93

II. 93

II. 92

II. 93

II. 94

II. 94

II. 94

III. 92

III. 92

III. 93

I

Fcidhlimidh Rcchtmar

Cathair Mor

Con of the Hundred Fights
*Conaire Mac Moghlamha (race of Herimoiiy £nui of
Munster)

Alt Aonfir
*Lugadh Mac Con (race of Ith)

'Fergus Duibhdeadach, i.e. of the Black Teeth (race of Hen-
mon Ernai of Ulster, clan Dal-fiatach)

Cormac L'lfada
*£ochaidh Gonnat

Cairbre Liffiocair

Fiacha Sra'ibhtine

Colb Uais

Muredach Tircch
•Coclbad (race of Hir, Clan-Rudraighe)

Eochaidh Muighmeadhoin
*Crimthann, of the race of Ebcr (see p. 249)

Niall of the Nine Hostages

Dathi mac Fiachrach

Laoghaire mac Ncill

OilioU Molt mac Dathi

Lugaidh mac Laoghaire

Interregnum

Muirchertach mac Erca

Tuathal Maolgarbh

Diarmait mac Fergusa Cearbheoil

J^nTFer"* M ( *°"* °^ Muirchertach mac Erca (johtimpj

Baotan, son of Muirchertach mac Erca, and { /-• • . ^- 1

Eochaidh, son of Domhnall, \ *-^"" '"^^

Ainmire, son of Sedna, son of Fergus Cennftda

Baoun mac Ninnedhai

Aodh mac Ainmirech

Aodh Slaine, and^ /■' • . f 1

Aodh Uariodhnach

Maulcobha, sumamcd the Cleric, son of Aodh mac AiiuDiitch|
Suibhne Meann I

Domhnall, son of Aodh mac Ainmirech

c!'„'al I'i ] «"" "^ "'"''"'''» '>■•*" "'V^
Conall Caol, sole king, after the death of Cellach
Blathmac and 1 sons ot Aodh Slaine (pmt kiiigi). IXcd in
Diarmait, J the great pesdicnce of 665
Sec Unas jch, son of Blathmac

IMTROD.]

Foundation of Trim.

^57

B.

History of the Foundation and Endowment of the Church of Trim ^
from the Book of Armagh^ fol. iba*b.

Incipiunt alia pauca serodnis
temporibus inuenta, suisque
locis narranda, curiossitate he-
redum dilegentiaque sanctitatis
quae in honorem et laudem
Domini, atque in amabilem
Patricii memoiiam, usque in
hodiernam diem congregantur.

Quando autem Patricius cum
sua sancta nauigatione ad Hi-
berniam peruenit sanctum Z^w-
manum in hostio Boindeo nauim
custodire reliquit xl. diebus et
xl. noctibus, ac deinde alium
quadragensimum, post oboe-
dentiam Patricio mansit \ de-

Here begin some few other
things discovered at later times,
and to be narrated in their pro-
per places, by the care and holy
diligence of the heirs [comarbs\
which are collected to the
honour and praise of the Lord,
and in loving memory of Pa-
trick, even to the present day.

But when Patrick, with his
holy companions in voyage,
had arrived in Ireland, he left
holy Lomman in the mouth of
the Boind ^ to guard the ship,
forty days and forty nights ; and
then he remained another
period of forty', after having

* Boind, The river Boyne :
Boindeo is the Celtic genitive : nom.
Boinn, or Boind. It will be observed
thatthespellingof the original MSS.,
as being characteristic of the Irish
school, nas been carefully preserved j
as in curioisitate, diUgentia, quadra-
gensimum, &c.— See Reeves, Adam-
nan, p. xvi. Pre/, The proper names,
usually written Loman, Urim, &c.,
arc in this MS. written with the double
w, indicating the strong emphasis of
the antient Celtic pronuntiation.

* Period of forty. * Alium quad-
ragensimum/ The Tripartite Life
strangely takes this to mean that
S. Lomman was left to take care
of the ships during Lent : but the

true meaning is evidently that here
given, viz. i Uiat Patrick desired him
to remain, 40 days and 40 nights :
but he remained another 40 days, and
40 nights. So Jocelin understands
it (c. 51). In other words, finding
his master did not return at the end
of the first 40 days, he waited 40
days more, and theil went up the
river to Ath-Truhnm, or the ford
of Trim, where he safely arrived
* imder the guidance of the Lord.'
Jocelin makes a great miracle of
this, and adds, that he ascended the
river not only against the stream,
but in the face or a strong contrary
wind : * O signum hactenus inaudi-
tum et incompertum ! Navis nemine

S

25S

Appendix B.

D

inde secundum imperium sui
magistri in sua naui contrario
flumine usque ad uadum Tru-
imm in hostio Arei$ Feidilmedo
filii Loiguiriy domino guber-
nante, penienit.

Mane autem fecto Foirt--
chemn filius Fedeilmtheo inve-
nit [eum] euanguelium recitan-
tem et ammiratus euanguelium
et doctrinam eius confestim
credidit, et aperto fonte in illo
loco a Lommano in Christo
babtitzatus est, et mansit
cum illo donee mater eius
quaerere eum penienit, et laeta
facta est in conspectu eius, quia
Brittonissa erat. At ilia simi-

gubernante, contra fluvium et ventum
ad votum viri Dei velificavit/ &c.
This is a ?ood specimen of the man-
ner in which such writers as Jocelin
manu^tured miracles from the
statements of more antient authors.
The original, it will be seen, says
nothing of opposing winds, or of
the ship sailing without guidance
a^inst the stream. There is nothing
of the miraculous necessarily implied
in the narrative. It is not even ne-
cessary to suppose the river to have
been then more navigable than it is
now ; for the light boats of the
period might easily have been carried
over the shoals and rapids. — Cf. Us-
sher, Brit. EccL Antiq.^ p. 853
(Works vi., 413).

* Having obeyed. This seems evi-
dently the meaning: Ussher, misread-
ing the contraction in the MS., has,
* propter obedientiam,* which makes
no sense. Jocelin (l.c.)adds some non-
sense about Lomman having remain-
ed in the hope of martyrdom, which
has no foundation in tne original.

* FmrdtffTrimm, 'VadumTruimm'

obeyed ^ Patrick : then, accord-
ing to the command of his
master, he arrived, under the
guidance of the Lord, against
the stream, as far as the ford of
Trimm *, at the door of Aras
Feidilmedo ' [the house of Fci-
dilmidh], son of Loigaire.

And when it was morning,
Foirtchemn^ son of FeidUmith^
found him reciting die Gospel,
and, wondering at the Gospel
and his doctrine, straightway
believed; and there being anopen
fountain^ in that place, he was
baptized in Christ by Lmmmgm,
And he stayed with him until
his mother came to seek him,
and she rejoiced at the s^ht oJF
him, for she was ^ a British wo-

is a translation of the Irish name
Ath'Trtdmm (^Atk^ vaduniy a ford),
now Trim. Sec p. 150, note t.

' Aras FeidUmedB. 'Am* it an
old Irish word, signifying a houK
or dwelling : the genitire Aras in
the text WIS mistaken br Uahcr for
Arcis^ which luckily makes no great
difference of sense: he has also
changed FeiSlme^ into FeuShmidif
not perceivingr that the fbnner was
the Celtic ^irive. Another ibnn
of the geniUTCy Fedeilmikf^ occun in
the next line. Fcidihmth, or FcidUi-
mith, was the son of Loiguire, or
Laoghaire, who was King of Ire-
land, A.D. 41S--463.— O'Fhhcfty,
QOTiP-4*?- See Table III.,p.»sa,

^ Fountmm. We might perlMps
translate, ' And a fountain MTiag
been opened by Lomman, he wis
baptized,* &c. ^ Jocelin of coane
makes the opening of the fonnnin
a miracle.

^ For /Ar<iiMu. The meaning pco>
bably is, * She rejoiced at finding her
son among strangen who wcic Bri-
tons, because she was benelf British.*

IMTROD.]

Foundation of Trim.

H9

liter credidit, et iterum reuersa
est in domum suam et nuntiauit
marito suo omnia quae acce-
derant illi et filio suo. At
uero Fedelmidius laetificabatur
in aduentu clerici, quia de Brit-
tonibus matrem habuit, i. filiam
regis firittonum, i. Scothnoe.

Salutauit autem Fidelmi--
dim Lwimanum lingua Brit-
tannica interrogans eum secun-
dum ordinem de fide et ge-
nere. Respondit ei. Ego sum
Lommanus Britto Christianus
alumpnus Patricii episcopi, qui
missus est a Domino babtit-
zare populos Hibernensium et
conuertere ad fidem Christi,
qui me missit hue secundum
uoluntatem Dei. Statimque
credidit Fedelmidius cum omni
familia sua, et immolauit illi et
sancto Patricio regionem suam
cum possesione sua et cum
omnibus substantiis suis et cum
omni progenie sua. Haec om-
nia immolauit Patricio et Lorn-
mano^ et Foirtcherno filio suo
usque in diem iudicii.

Migrauit autem Fedelmid
trans amnem Boindeo, et man-
sit hi Cloin Lagen^ et mansit

man. And she also believed in
like manner, and returned back
to her house, and told to her
husband all things that had
happened unto herself and unto
her son. But Feidilmidh rejoiced
at the coming of the cleric, for
his mother was of the Britons,
viz., daughter of the King of
the Britons, viz., Scothnoe.^

And Feidilmidh saluted Lorn-
man in the British tongue, ask-
ing him in order concerning his
^th and £unily. He answered
him, * I am Lomman, a Briton, a
Christian, the disciple of Bishop
Patrick^ who is sent by the
Lord to baptize the tribes of
the Irish, and to convert them
to the faith of Christ: who
hath sent me hither, according
to the will of God.' And
forthwith Feidilmidh believed,
with all his &mily, and he
devoted* to him and to holy
Patrick his territory, with his
possessions, and with all his
substances^ and with all his
race. All these he devoted
to Patrick and Lomman^ and
to Foirtchernn his son, unto the
the day of judgment.

But Feidilmidh passed across
the river of Boind, and re-
mained at Cloin Lagerij and

* Scotknoe, U»shcr reads Scoth^
noesa^ taking sa from the first sylla-
ble of the following word, by an er-
ror of transcription. The Tripartite
Life makes Scoth the mother ot Fort-
chemn, instead of his grand-mother,
and drops the syllable noe.

* Devoted. The word immoUnnt
in the original signifies, he dedicated^
offered i^ as a free eift, as a sacrifice
is offered to GocT — Sec Reeves,
Adamnany p. 435.

8 2

26o

Appendix B.

[iMTROD.

Lomman cum Foirtcherno in
uado Truimniy usque dum
peruenit Patricius ad lUos et
aedificauit aeclesiam cum illis
xxii. anno antequam fimdata
esset aeclesia Alti Machse.

Progenies autem Lommani
de Brittonibus, i. filius Gollit.
Germana autem Patricii mater
ejus : germani autem Lommani
hii sunt: —

Episcopus Manisy hi forg-
nidiu la ciurcniu.

Broccaide in Imhliuch equo-
nim apud Ciarrige Connact.

Broccanus imbrechmig apud
nepotes Dorthim,

Mugenogj hi Gil Dumi
Gluinn in deisciurt Breg.

^ Armagh. The Latin Altum
Mach^y a literal translation of the
Irish name Ard-mackUy establishes
beyond all doubt the true signifi-
cation and etymology of the name,
* height' or * high place of Macha.'
Usshcr has printed this document
only thus far.

^Race,T\it original vrord progenUs
denotes race, family, genealogical .
descent. Feidlimdk is said above to
have dedicated to Patrick all his
territory and possessions, with his
progettusy i.e. race, posterity, his clan.

' Maws, or Munis, as Colgan
calls him (Actt. SS., 6 Feb.). The
following words arc Irish. Forgni-
Jiu and Ciurniu are ablative fonns :
Lit. * he was bishop among the Forg-
nidians who are in the district of the
Cuircnians.' The parish is now
Forgney, Co. of Longford, diocese of
Meath. For the boundaries of the
district of the Cuircne, see O'Do-
mn-an, Book of Rights , p. i8i, w.,
and Martyr. Doneg.y at i8 Dec.

Lomman remained with FmW-
chernn at the ford of Trimmj
until Patrick came to them,
and built a church with them,
the twenty-second year before
the church of Armagh ^ was
founded.

Now the race * of Lomman
of the Britons wat this: he
was the son of Gollit. And
the sister of Patrick was his
mother; and the brothers of
Lomman are these : —

Bishop Manis\ in ForgniJht
in the district of the Cuircne.

Broccaide^ in Imliuch of
horses, in Ciarrighe of Con-
nacht.

Brocan in Brechmigh* among
the Ui Dorthim.

Mugenog* in Cill Dum-
ghiinnj in the east of Bregia*

^ Broccaide. His church wit at
Imliuch or Imleach Each, ' Emlagh
(or the Marsh) of the hones.* It is
situated in the barony of CostelkH
Co. of Mayo. Four Mast., a.d. 757,
andO'Donovan*snote. Booko/Kghts,
p. 100, note f s Mart, ^f Ehmgal^
at 9 July.

* Brechmgh. Generally written
Bregh-magh, or Magh-bregfay the
^reat plain of Bregia or Brmnam
(as the name is usually Latmiied),
in Meath. Book^ of Rights^ P* it»
note. Nepotes, in the text, is the
word usuauly employed to truisfatfe
the Irish Ui (plural of Ua or O)
descendants, posterity. The Vi
Dorthim, more correctly Ui Dmrtmm
or Ui Tortaim, were a tribe seated
near Ardbraccan in the Co. of
Meath. Ibid, p. 151, *•

• Mugenog, or MogencMN Hb
church was called Ciil Dumha-
gluinn, in the same district of Bre*
gia.— AfflTf. Doiuf.9 %e Dec, It is
now called Kilglm, and is situated

INTROD.]

Foundation of Trim.

2,61

Haec autem progenies Pa-
tricii propria est consanguini-
tate et gratia, fide et babtismate
et doctrina, et omnia quae
adepti sunt de terra, de regio-
nibus, aeclessiis, et omnibus
oblationibus propriis sancto
Patricio in sempitemum ob-
tullerunt.

Post aliquantum autem tem-
pus adpropinquante Lommani
exitu, perrexit cumalumpno suo
Foirtchernno ad fratrem suum
Broccidium fratrem salutan-
dum perrexerunt autem ipse
et alumpnus eius Foirtchernn.

Commendauitque sanctam
aeclesiam suam sancto Patricio
et Foirtcherno\ sed recussauit
Foirtchemn tenere hereditatem
patris sui quam obtulit Deo et
Patricio^ nisi Lommanus dixit
non accipies benedictionem
meam nisi acciperis principa-
tum aeclesiae meae. Tenuit
autem post obitum magistri
sui principatum .iii. diebus,
usque dum peruenit ad uadum
Truimmj ac deinde statim Cath-
laido peregrino distribuit suam
aeclesiam.

Hae sunt autem oblationes

Now this is the proper race
of Patrick by consanguinity
and by grace, by faith and
baptism and doctrine. And
all "that they had acquired of
land, of territories, of churches,
and of all special oblations,
they offered to holy Patrick
for ever.

But after some time, when
Lommanus death was approach-
ing, he went * with his disciple
Fortchernn to his brother Broc-
caide : and they went to salute
his brother, himself and his dis-
ciple Fortchernn.

And he committed his
holy church to holy Patrick^
and to Fortchernn. But Fort-
chernn refused to hold the
heritage of his fether, which
he had offered to God and to
Patrick : until Lomman said,
*Thou shalt not have my
blessing unless thou accept the
chieftainship of my church.'
He held the chieftainship how-
ever for three days only after
the death of his master, until
he arrived at the ford of Trimm^
and then he straightway gave
his church to Cathlaid the pil-
grim.'

These are the offerings of

within the parish of Balfcighan, Co.
of Meath. — Four Mast,, at 834,
and 0'Donovan*s note.

* He ivent. His object evidently
was to die at his brother's church ;
and according to a very antient cus-
tom he designated his disciple Fort-
chernn his successor.

* Pilgrim. So the word peregrinus
signifies in Adamnan (see the Glos-
sary in Reeves' Adamnan), The
typographical errors in Colgan's
Trias Thaum, have made great con-
fusion in the name of this pilgrim.
There can be no doubt that Cath-
laid is the correct form of the name.

26z

Appendix B.

[nmoD.

Fedelmedo fUii Loiguiri sancto
Patricio et Lommano et Foirt-
chemo, id est —

Uadum Truimm in finibus
Loiguiri Breg.

Imga in finibus Loiguiri
Midi.

H«c est ecclesiastica proge-
nies Fedelmtheo.
Fortchemus^
Aid magnus^
jted parvus J
Conall^
Baitarty
OssaUj
Cummeney
Saran.

Hii omnes episcopi ftierunt
et principes, uenerantes sanc-
tum Patricium et successores
eius.

Plebilis autem progenies But his lay ' race is diis : —
eius haec est : —
Fergus filius Fedelmtheo,
Feradach filius Fergosso.
Cronan filius Feradig.
Saran filius Cronain.
Failan filius Sarain,
Failgnad filius Failain.
Forfailid filius Failgnaith,
Segene filius Forfailto,
Sechnassach filius Segeni,

Feidilmidh, son of Loiguire,
to holy Patrick and to Foirt-
chemn, that is —

The ford of Tnnvfi, in the
territories of Loiguiri of Bregia.

Img^j in the territories of
Loiguire of Meath.^

This is the ecclesiastical
race of Feidilmidh.
Fortchemtj
Aodh the greats
Aodh the little ^
Conally
Baitan^
Ossan *,
Cummenej
Saran,

These were all bishops and
chiefs, venerating holy Patrick
and his successors*

Fergus son of Fedibnidh.
Feradach son of Fergus.
Cronan son of Feradach.
Sarin son of Cronin.
Failan son of Saran.
Failgnad son of Failan.
Forfailid son of Failgnad.
Segene son of Forfailid.
Sechnassach son of Segene.

* Meatk, The two districts in-
habited by the Cinel Laoghaire are
here distinfi;uished ; the Cinel Laogh-
aire Bregh, in Breeia; and the
Cinel Laoghaire Midhe, in Meath.
Trim is described as in the former
district ; and Img^ (which has not
been identified) in the latter.

* Ossam. See Mart. Dm^gaL ad

17 Feb.

* Utf. The word Law acems the
best representation of jMiSs, here )
plebilis being formed from piehp M
Laicus is from Xooc*

ST. PATRICK
APOSTLE OF IRELAND

A Memoir of his Life and Mission

•S4

* Le pcuple monastique des temps barbares, Ic peuple missionaire, ct
destine a porter la lumiere de la i'o'i et de la science dans les tenebrcs crois-
santes de TOccident, c^est le peuple irlandais, dont on connait mieux Ics
malheurs que les services, et dont on n*a pas assez ctudic r^tonnante
vocation.'

OzANAM (La Civilisatio/t Chretienne chex Us francs ^ch. 4).

ST. PATRICK
APOSTLE OF IRELAND.

A Memoir of bis Life and Mission.

CHAPTER I.

The antient Church of Britain ; and the Mission
of Palladius to the Scots believing in Christ.

HRISTIANITY had followed the Christianity
course of Roman civilisation into J^^i"*'''*
Britain, and it is probable that there ^f^^^^
were believers in Christ among the "^^y^"^-
native tribes of Britannia before the end of
the second century. That may be the meaning
of the celebrated passage of Tertullian^, which
does not, however, assert the existence of a regu-
larly organised British Church at this early
period. We are not bound to credit the fable

* TertulUan. * Britannonim in- ten a.d. 208. Comp. Euseb. De
accessa Romanis loca Christo vcro Frapar. E^ang^Xxh, iii. c. i.
subdita/ Contr, JudaoSy c. 7. writ-

266

The DaUrtada of Scotland. [chap.

The colony

of Scots in

Britain

under

Cairbrc

Riada.

of the British king Lucius, in the year i8o, nor
the still more apocryphal story of Donald, King
of the Albanian Scots in 202, who are both said
to have, of their own accord, solicited the
Roman Pontiff to send them Christian instruc-
tion and baptism.^

It was about the middle of the third cen-
tury, according to Irish tradition, that Cairbrc
Righfada^ (or Riada, as his name is pronounced)
established the colony of Scots on the north-
west coast of Albanian Britain, in connexion
with the head-quarters of his clan on the ad-
jacent shores of the present county of Antrim,
in Ireland. Both tribes, as well as the regions
they inhabited in both countries, received from
his name the appellation of Dal-riada^ * the

* Baptism, * Hie [sc. Eleutherus]
accepit epistolam a Lucio Britanniae
rcge ut Christianus efficerctur, per
ejus mandatum/ So says the Liber
Pontificalis : and see Bede I. 4. Lu-
cius is therefore assigned to the mid-
dle of the second century. There
was a chieftain of Glamorgranshire
whose native name was Lleurwg, sur-
named LIcufer Mawr, * the Great
Luminary/ which title may have been
latinized Lucius. Rees, frelsA Saints,
p. 82, sq. Irish version of Nennius,
A^J, Notes. No. Vin. p. xiii. The
other story of Donald king of Scots,
who is represented as having made a
similar application to Pope Victor I.,
is totally without foundation. There
never was such a king, nor were there
any Scots in North Britain, a.d. 102,
to have a king. The leeend is no
more than a repetition of tne fable of
King Lucius : and appears to have
no higher authority than Hector
Boece. See Innes, Ci'vil and EccUs.
Hist, of Scotland (Spalding Club),
p. 14.

» Cairbre RigAfada, i.e. Carbrjr of
the long arm. The surname Righ-
fada is pronounced and often written
Riada, the gA and / bcinff both
quiescent. He was one of three
named Cairbre, sons of Conaire Mac
Moghlamha, Kinz of IreUndy A.D.
212 — 222. (See App. to Introd. ta-
ble VI. p. 256, supra.) Bede calk
thischietain Rnida{tiist.EccL L i.)
See the valuable Dissertation on the
history of this tribe in Reeves** EceL
Antiq, of Do^um and Qmtnr^. tit»
sq., and the Genealogical Table of
Dailriadic chieftains ofooth countries.
showing the descent of the principal
Highland families from their Irish or
Scotic ancestors, in the same author*!
edition of il^AMMuuiV LifetfCdmmhm^
p. 438.

' Dalriada. The Irish word />«i;
as Bede (I. i.) has explained it, sig-
nifies a part, or portion, ' a quo vi-
delicet duce [sc. Reuda] usque hodie
Dalreudini vocantur, nam lingua
eorum Daal partem significat.*

CHAP. I.] The City of Alcluttb. 267

Tribe, or Tribe-land of Riada.' In Ireland, the
territory still retains the name in the corrupted
form of The Route, and in Scotland a record of
the historical fact may be found in the name of
Argyle^y which is properly Alrer Gaedbil, or re-
gion of the Gaedhil — that is to say, of the Irish.
The geographical position of this territory, which
appears to have included the islands on the
coast, is thus described by the venerable Bede :
— ' There is a very large gulf of the sea,* he
says, ' which antiently divided the nation of the
Britons from the Picts, and which breaks from
the west a long way into the land, where to this
day stands the well-fortified city of the Britons,
called Alcluith. The Scots, we have mentioned,
arriving on the north side of this bay, made
themselves a home there : sibi locum patria '
fecerunt.*

The city of Alcluith was the western fortifi- The dty
cation of the wall, or entrenchment, originally
thrown up by Agricola between the Clyde and the
Forth, and repaired or restored, with additional
forts, in the reign of Antonine. This wall, ditch, or
series of fortresses, formed the northern boundary
of the Roman power in Britain ; and the district
included between it and the wall of Adrian, or
Severus, in Northumberland, running from Car-

> ilr^Zr, called by the Irish Avrer is not to be confounded with the

Dalriataiy and Airer GaedJnl\ the neighbouring region of Dalaraide,

district, or territory of the Dalriadansy which has its name from a different

or of the Gael. Airiur, or Airer, chieftain. See Reeves's EccL Hist,

signifies fans^ r^gio^ mar go. See of Down and Connor ^ P* 3}4» ^*

Reeves^s Adamnany p. 395, note, m. The one is Dal-Rtada, the other

The district of Dalnada, in Ireland, Dal-Araide.

penecutiofi.

268 The Diocletian Persecution. [chaf. 1.

lisle to Tynemouth, and still called the Pict's
wall, formed the debateable ground so long con-
tested with the Picts and Scots, until by the vic-
tories of Theodosius, at the end of the fourth
century, it became the fifth Roman province of
Britain, under the name of Valentia.
Bridihmar- In thc cariy part of the fourth century, the
Dbcietbn British Church contributed to the ranks of
the noble army of martyrs^ in the Dioclesian
persecution, and soon afterwards, on the resto-
ration of liberty of conscience under Constan-
tine, we find bishops established in the chief
cities of the Roman provinces. Eborius of
York, Restitutus of London, and Adelfius, pro-
bably of Caerleon upon Usk^, subscribed the Acts
of the Council or Synod of Aries, in 314, and it is
evident, from many authorities, which may be
seen collected by Ussher and Stillingfleet*, that
an organised Christian Church existed in the
Roman provinces of Britain very early in the
century of which we are speaking.

^ Martyrs, St. Alban at Verulam, Colonia being the equivalent of Caer.

(11 June). SS. Aaron and Julius This conjecture denves some snraort

at Caerleon upon Usk, with others, from the tradition that Vork» Loo-

(i July). Bede I. 7. don, and Caerleon on Usk were the

' CaerUoH upon Usk, The sub- original archbishoprics of Britain.

scription of this latter prelate is given Unner, Amtiq. cap. y. Works v. p. 1 01 .

thus in the printed editions of the IrishNennius,p.a8. Add.Nolca.No.

Councib : 'Adelfius Episcopus de i. StillinffileetMinfiiyourofCaCTlcoD

civitate Colonia Londinensium/ for on Usk \AuHq. ch. a. Works vol. iii.

which some would read Colonia Lm- 48), as on that supposition the three

i/iunr, i.e. Lincoln : Lappenberg I. 50. Roman provinces were repreiented

(Thorpe*s Transl.) Ussher suggests at the Svnod by these three bisliopi.

CoUhester^ which was Caer CoTu/tf in Some give to this Synod of Aites

Nennius : fTorkSy v. 82. 136. But the the date 326 or 328. Spehnaii, Gmi-

Irish Nennius gives the name of Caer cii. I. 43.

Lonin-oper-uisc to Caerleon on Usk, * Stiilui^Jlert. Uasher, JmtM,

which name may have been easily capp. vii. viiL (JWtrks^ vol. v.) StU-

curruptcd into Colonia LomdimeHsium^ lingfleet, Amtiq, ch. iiL(ir«ri/,ToLiiL)

CHAP. I.] Pelagian Heresy in Britain. 2^g

But the withdrawal of the Roman power, at PeUgian
the beginning of the fifth century, seems to have bS!"
prepared the way for many evils. The civilisa-
tion introduced by the Romans was in a great
measure destroyed by the ravages^ of the
Picts and Scots, and, before the middle of the
century, the Pelagian heresy had made conside-
rable progress in Christian Britain. St. Ger-
main, Bishop of Auxerre, was twice sent over to
counteract this evil. On the former of these
missions, with which alone we are here con-
cerned, he was attended by St. Lupus, Bishop of
Troyes, and other ecclesiastics of inferior rank.
Two different, but not, perhaps, inconsistent
accounts of this event, both from coeval authori-
ties, are handed down to us. Constantius of
Lyons, the biographer and contemporary^ of St.
Germain, tells us that the rapid spread of Pela-
gianism occasioned a deputation from the British
to the Gallican bishops, praying for aid to
defend the Catholic faith, and that a numerous
synod^ summoned for the purpose, commissioned
Germanus and Lupus to undertake the confrita-
tion of the heretics.

This mission is usually dated a. d. 429, the Mission of
consulship of Florentius and Dionysius at Rome, and lJ^s,

A.D. 429.

' Ravages. Bede I. c. xi. xii. vii. p. 191, D.

' Contemporary. Father Peter ' SynoJ, * Eodem tempore ex

Basch, the BoUandist, says : — * Con- Britannii:: directa le?atio, Gallicanis

stantii labores anno Christ! circiter episcopis nuntiavit, Pelagianam per-

473, hoc est quinto tantum aut sexto versitatem in locis suis late populos

supra vigesimum ab obitu S. Ger- occupavisse : ct quam primum fidci

mani, Sec, . . . Diu ergo cum Catholics debere succurri. Ob quam

sancto, de quo scribit, ejusque aequa- causam synodus numerosa collecta

libus vixisse debuit.' Actt, SS, Juliiy est : ' &c. Ibid, p. »ii, B.

Z'jo Palladtus obtained for St. Germain [chaf. i.

Under that year another contemporary authority,
St, Prosper of Aquitaine, in his Chronicle ^
without any mention of the intervention of the
Gallican bishops, attributes the mission of Ger-
manus to the Pope Celestinus. ^Agricola, a
Pelagian/ he says, ' son of Severianus, a Pelagian
bishop, corrupted the churches of Britannia by in-
sinuation of his doctrine ; but by the instrumen-
tality [or negotiation] of the deacon Palladius —
Sanctioned ad actlonciH Palladll dlaconl — Pope Celestinus sends
odi^e. Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, in his own stead
— vice sua — to displace the heretics and direct the
Britons to the Catholic faith/ And in the year
next but one following, the same Chronicle tells
us that, during the consulship of Bassus and An-
tiochus, the year in which the general council of
Ephesus condemned Nestorius, or a. d. 431,
Misnon of ' Palladius was consecrated by Pope Celestine,
the sc'^^ and sent to the Scots believing in Christ, as their
^n- 43'.. £j.5^ bishop, ' Ad Scotos in Christum credentes
ordinatur a Papa Celestino Palladius, et primus
episcopus mittitur/
Negotia- We must speak of these passages separately.

bdiuiforVt If Palladius was a disciple of St. Germain, and
^^^*' also a deacon, as is commonly said, of the

> CkronicU. St. Prosper is sup- cur only in the edition usmlly an-

posed to have been bom A.D. 40a, nexed to the Chrmiicle of Euicbius

and lived to about 463. CeiUier^ xiv. continued by St. Jerome \ it will be

p. 518, sq. There are two editions found in the new edit, of the Lic^

of the Chronicle of Prosper, one cor- tiotus Antinut ofCinttios L p. %^

rupt and interpolated : published by in the BiU, Patrmmg Ltigd, i<77»

Pet. Pithou, Paris, 1588, and again torn. viii. and in the works of St.

by Labbe, Bihi. Nov. MSS. (Paris, Jerome. From this bst reprint of

1657), tom. i. p. 56. This edition it, it is here quoted $ edit. ViUaniL

of the Chronicle does not contain tom. viii. See Cave, Siriftmu^ I.

the passages here quoted, which oc- p. 347, Oxon. 1740.

CHAP. 1.] the Papal Sanction. 2,yi

Church of Rome, it is not impossible^ that, at
his instance or suggestion. Pope Celestine, after
the two bishops of Auxerre and Troyes had been
selected by the Gallican synod, may have given
to the senior of them an additional commission
to act in his name. Prosper has mentioned St.
Germain only, because St. Germain only, as
head of the mission, had received this further
authority to represent especially the Roman
bishop ; and Constantius, the biographer of St. Papai tanc-
Germain, if he was^ acquainted vsrith this fact, c^n^n^
did not perhaps think it of sufficient importance m^don^
to be particularly noticed in his account of the t^^pheta.
matter. Germain and Lupus were primarily
sent by the Gallican bishops. The fact that
Germain had received also the sanction of Celes-
tine, was not, in the fifth century, regarded as a
circumstance of such moment as to require
special notice. There is, therefore, no actual
inconsistency between the two narratives.

But here we are met by another difficulty, nor by
The venerable Bede^ had certainly the Chronicle
of Prosper before him. He states, almost in the
words of the Chronicle, that Pelagianism had
been introduced into Britain by Agricola, son of
the Pelagian bishop, Severianus. He states also,

^ iTttpossibU. This mode of re- anonymous authors of the Acts of

conciling the two authorities is sug- St. Lupus. (Actt, SS, ad 29 Junii,

gested by Baronius, ad an. 429, n. p. 69, sq.) This silence can only

20, but it does not explain the silence arise from the fact having been un-

of Constantius. known, or from its having been

^ y fu *was. Heric of Auxerre deemed of no such consequence as

(arc. 880), author of a metrical life to require to be mentioned.
ofSt.Germainyis equally silent about ' Bedf. Hist. Eccl. i. c. 17.
Celestine^s commission : so are the

2^2 'Evidence in favour of [chaf. i.

almost in the words of the Chronicle, that Pal-
ladius was sent by Celestine, Bishop of Rome,
to be the first bishop of the Scots who were
believers in Christ ; but he says not a word of the
statement for which the Chronicle is our only
authority, that St. Germain had been constituted
by Celestine the legate or representative of the
Bishop of Rome,
The Roman This Statement, therefore, it may be said, was not
stG^raain in thc copics of Prospcr's Chronicle which existed
by p^il^ in the time of Bede, and the story of St. Germain
eitewhere. j^^yi^g gone to Britain, as the representative of
Pope Celestine, is an interpolation^ of later times.
But, on the other hand, Bede may have had
before him the mutilated text of the Chronicle.
It does not necessarily follow that the copy cited
by Bede must have been the genuine work of
Prosper, and that all other texts are corrupt.
The fact of the Roman mission of Germanus
is otherwise authenticated, however we may
agree to explain the silence of Bede, and of the
biographers. In another work, whose authen-
ticity is undoubted. Prosper* alludes very dis-

^ Interpolation, See what Stilling- that for those who are already

fleet has said on this subject, Anttq, demned the remedy to be implied b

ch. iv. {IVorks III. p. 117, sq.) not a further judicial enquinr but

' Prosper. See the book, Contra only repentance, commanded Cck»-

CoUatorem (i.e. against the 1 3th tius, who demanded a further bar*

CoUatio of John Cassian), published in^ in a matter already settled, to be

with the works of St. Augustine, driven from the borders of all lulr.

tom. X. part ii. Append, p. 196. (£</. and witb no le» aeu-

Bened.) The passage referred to is ous care he delivered the Britanaias

as follows : < Wherefore also the from the same disease, wben he drove

Pontiff Celestine of venerable me- even from that secret place of Oceaa

in()ry, to whom the Lord gave many some enemies of Grace, who were

gifts of His grace for the protection settling in the soil of their oriein | and

of the Catholic Church, knowing by ordaining a bishop for the Scots,

CHAP. I.] the Roman Mission of St. Germain. zy$

tinctly to something which Pope Celestine had
done to extirpate Pelagianism in Britain. He
does not tell us so distinctly what that something
was. He appears rather to take for granted that
the fact to which he alluded was well and
generally known. ' Whilst the Pope/ he says,
' laboured to keep the Roman island Catholic, he
made also the barbarous island Christian, by or-
daining a bishop for the Scots.*

The book against Cassian in which this allusion ProspcrV
occurs must have been written after the death cSriaT*"*
of Celestine, and soon after the consecration of
his successor Sixtus^ or Xistus. The allusion is
evidently to the mission of St. Germain. The
terms in which the deliverance from heresy of
the British provinces is spoken of agree very well
with the account we have of the proceedings of
St. Germain in that mission. But Stillingfleet^
objects that, if this event had been intended, and
if Celestine had made St. Germain his vicar for
the suppression of Pelagianism in Britain, the
names of such eminent prelates as Germanus
and Lupus could scarcely have been omitted by
St. Prosper. This argument, however, is cer-
tainly not strong. The object of Prosper was to
show the zeal of the Popes in suppressing the
Pelagian heresy. JLkwas^^^^not^jli^cessary^fo
to name the instruments employed in the work.

whilst he laboured to keep the Ro- prcsbytenim Sixtum, nunc vero Pon-

man island Catholic, made also the tificcm, &c/ Loc. cit, Sixtus was

barbarous island Christian." consecrated 7 Aug. 432, and died

' Sixtus. The author says that 440.
St. Augustine wrote, * Ad beatissi- ' StillingJUet, Loc. cit. (JVorks

mum quoque apostolicae sedis tunc III. p. 115.)

T

^74 Success of St. Germain. [chaf.i.

The very eminence of Germanus and Lupus
would have rather been a reason for suppressing
their names, when the object was to give as
much credit and prominence as possible to the
Pope, who had given his authority to their
mission S and thereby made it his own. But, as
we have already said, the words must mean that
Celestine did something which had the effect of
banishing the propagators of Pelagianism out of
the British provinces. What was this some-
thing ? If Germanus was known or believed to
have received any sort of legatine authority from
the Roman See, that would be quite enough to
justify the words of our author, that Celestine
had delivered the Britannian provinces ; and if
Celestine did not commission Germanus, we
know not what else he did to rescue Britain
from the plague of Pelagianism.
Successor The success of Germanus and his followers,

St Germain n i t • •

in Britain, accordiug to all the extant histories, was rapid
and decisive. The favourers of the heresy were
unpopular. At a public discussion, although
they came with great display of wealth*, attended

1 Musion, Stillingfleet speaks one word of Lupus, or of his ood-

throughout as if Lupus, as well as nexion with the mission. The sane

Germanus, had been commissioned oversight b committed by Lappes-

by the Pope. One of his arguments, berg, who says, < the orthodos*

taken from the fact that Lupus was through the intervention of Palla-

the brother of Vincent of Lerins, is dius, who afterwards became the lint

built upon this mistake. ' It is very Scottish bishop, prevailed oo the

unlikelv,' he says, that Celestine Pope Celestinus to send hither Gcr-

< should pitch upon one of that so- manus, bishop of Auxerre, and Lo-

cicty [of Lerins] most suspected for pus, bishop of^Troyes, 5cc.' (TAmfi*t

semipehgianism, and whose brother TransL I, 65.)

appeared so earlv and warmly in it/ ' fVealth, * Procedunt ooospinii

(Lor. riV. p. 119.; But who ever said divitiis, veste fulgentcs, cimmidati

that Celestine < pitched upon Lupus?" assentatione multorum.* BiJi L

The Chronicle of Prosper says not c. 17.

CHAP. I.] His popularity in Britain. 275

by numerous flatterers, they were completely
silenced. The people applauded their defeat by
shouts, and could scarcely be restrained from
violence.^ The popularity of St. Germain was His popu-
attested by his having soon after been accepted '*"^'
as leader of the British troops, in a celebrated
battle against the Saxons^ and Picts. His as-
sumption of such an office may seem inconsistent
with the ecclesiastical character of the bishop.
But the army was his former profession, and the
victory was gained in a manner truly ecclesiastical.
The story is told by the contemporary authority
of Constantius, and is not in itself improbable.
The attendant priests, by intoning Halleluiah in
a voice of thunder, taken up by the soldiers, and
re-echoed by the surrounding hills, so terrified the
barbarous enemy, that the Britons remained
masters of the field without a blow.^

All this was done in less than a year, and St.
Germain immediately after returned to France.
There was, therefore, time for the success of the
mission to have been known to Prosper ; so that
he may be excused for attributing to Celestine
the honour of having made ^ the Roman island *
Catholic. Hence the text of the Chronicle, in

' Violence. * Populus arbiter vix Hist. ofScotlandy p. 49. But Ussher's

manus continet, judicium tamen solution seems preferable, for he

damore testatur.' Bede^ ibid. shows that occasional inroads were

2 Saxons. As the year 430, which made by the Saxons, before the ar-

is usually fixed as the date of the rival of Hengist. Antiquit. c. xi.

HalleluiahWictory (See Ussher, In- {IVorks^ v. p. 385), and cf. Lappen-

d£x C/tron.)y ^tm% too early for a berg (Thorpe's Transl.) I. 63, «o/^.
battle with Saxons, Father Innes * A blcnv. See the account of

suggests that Constantius may hav^ this battle, Constantius (lib. i. c. vi.

written here 5'/2jfozr/, instead of 5co/j,' $\). Actt. SS. Julii. torn. vii. 213.

by a natural mistake. Ci'U.and Eccl. Bede I. 20.

T2

276 Palladlus most probably [chap.i.

which the Pope is said to have sent Germanus
vice sua into Britain, receives confirmation from
this indirect allusion to the fact made by the
same author in another work, when he was
writing with a different object.
to'do^thc ^^ ^^^ whole, there seems no valid ground for
mu^on of ^^^^^^^g th^tj in addition to his appointment by
stGcrmain. thc Gallicau syuod, St. Germain may have been
armed with a commission from Rome. There
is nothing inconsistent with the ecclesiastical
usages of the time in the fact itself, and the
authority of Prosper is sufficient to give it credit.
PaUadiui The mention of Palladius, as the person by

dLonor whose intervention the sanction of Rome was
^^RomT obtained, together with his being called a deacon
in the Chronicle, seems the only foundation of
the opinion that he was a deacon in the Church
of Rome. With this hint to begin with, how-
ever, some modern manufacturers of history have
gone farther, and made him an archdeacon^ or
deacon to Pope Celestine ; nay, cardinal and
apostolic nuncio.
More pro- But it is uowhcrc said that Palladius was of
G^m^n'i Rome, or a deacon of Rome, much less that he
deacon. ^^g deacon to Pope Celestine. All this is un-
authorised assumption and fancy. It seems
much more natural to interpret the words of
Prosper's Chronicle^ as signifying that Palladius

* Archdeacon. Ralph of Chester, Cardinal and Nmntio nf^sfBcmL See
in his Polychronicon, makes him the references in Uiskery Fr

deacon of Rome ^ Probus and Joce- cap. xvi. (Works vi. 357.)
lin, in their lives of St. Patrick, call " ChronicU. The words of the

him archdeacon of the Pope j and Chronicle are these : « Acncolm

Leslie declares him to have been a Pelagianus, Severitni episoo|ii Na-

CHAP. I.] the Deacon of St. Germain, 2,yy

was St. Germain's deacon : ' at the negotiation
of the deacon Palladius, Pope Celestine sends
Germanus in his own stead/ In this there is
nothing unusual, or strange. When Germanus
was nominated by the Gallican bishops, he sent
his deacon to Rome, to negotiate a further special
mission from the apostolical patriarch^ of the
imperial city. He most probably felt that, as
representative of the Bishop of Rome, his influ-
ence in a Roman province would be vastly
increased, and his deacon was the proper officer,
according to the usages of that age^ by whose
intervention the negotiation with Rome would
naturally have been conducted. Equally without
foundation is the supposition that Palladius was
influenced, during his negotiations at Rome, by
some special zeal for the welfare of Great
Britain. That may or may not have been so.
He was zealous, no doubt, for the success of his
master's mission, and he succeeded in obtaining
for his master's mission the recognition of the
Roman bishop. This is all that we can legiti-
mately infer from the brief words of the Chroni-
cler, 'ad actionem Palladii.' Nevertheless, the
supposed interest ^ manifested by Palladius ia

giani filius, ecclesias Britanniae dog- in which the bishops, his correspoR^

matis sui insinuatione corrupit, sad dents, are all styled Papa,

ad actionem Palladii diaconi Papa * Age. See cingham. On the An--

CelcstinusGermanum Antissiodoren- tient Duties of the Deacons ^ Book ii.

sem episcopum vice sua mittit, ut chap. ao.

deturbatis haereticis Britannos ad ' Interest. Palladius, says Father

Catholicam fidem dirigat/ Innes, ' had a particular zeal for the

* Patriarch. The word Papa was Britons/ Ci^v. and Eccl. Hist. p. 50.

at that time the title of all bishops. This is one of those presumptions

and signified simply * Father ! ' Sec which so often bias the minds of

the letters of Sidonius Apollinaris, writers of history : neither Prosper

27S

PaUadius not a Briton.

[chap. I.

Not a
Briton.

the spiritual welfare of the British churches,
has given birth to the assertion that he was
himself a native^ of the island. The Chronicle
makes no mention of the place of his birth, and
there is literally no reason for calling him a
Briton, except the surmise just mentioned. If we
are to determine his birthplace by conjecture,
conjecture would seem rather to point towards
Gaul, not only from his connection with Gcr-
manus of Auxerre, but also because we find that
the Palladian family, at that time, had risen to
eminence in the Gallican episcopacy, and pro-
bably, also, in the legal profession. Simplicius',

nor any other antient writer has told
us that Palladius had any particular
zeal for the Britons. He may have
had a particular zeal against the Pe-
lagian heresy : but that is all that
we can fairly infer, and even that
inference perhaps is not perfectly
warranted. He successfully nego-
tiated a certain business at Rome.
This is all that Prosper really says.

* A native. See Innes, Cfvil and
EccL Hist. o/ScotlanJfp.s^. Ussher
quotes a MS. work of William of
MalmesburVyZ)^ antiqmtate Glaston-
iensis eccUsta^ in which Palladius is
said to have been a Briton. Trithe-
mius calls him a Greek, author of the
Life of St. Chrysostom, in which he
is followed by Bale and others. But
for this there is no authority, except
the identity of name. For this and
some other still more unfounded
opinions, see Ussher, loc. cit. The
Lessons of the Breviary of Aberdeen
make him an Egyptian. ' Palladius
pontifex egregius ex egiptiaca gcnte
illustris [read illustribus'] ortus nata-
libus Sic' Brev. Aherd. (Propr.SS.)
ad 6 Julii, fnl. xxiv. b. This opinion
originated in the assumption that the
Palladius of whom wt* arctrcatinjj was
the author of the Historia Lausiaca,

of which there, is no probability, nor
any evidence; Fordun, Scoti-Chrm-
con, tom. i. lib. iii. c 8, p. 112.
(Edit. Goodali, £dinlf. 1759.) The
Bollandist, Father J. B. Solliere, who
compiled the Acts of St. PaUadius
(Actt. SS, JmJU^ tom. ii. p. 1869 «!•)
maintains that he was an Italian, as-
suming that Prosper in the Chronicle
had styled him a deacon of the Ro-
man church : ' Et sane cum syn-
chronus nuUus de Palladio usquam
meminerit, excepto solo Prospero : is
vero patriam ejus nullo modo atti-

ferit, Ronuuue eccliM diacomum
umtaxat (non archidiaconum, aidi-
iepiscopum aut cardinalem) a^aerensy
id unum reliquit probabilissime sup-
ponendum, non monachum aliquem
orientalem, multo minus Britonem,
scd clericum Italum fuisse sanctum
nostrum Palbdium.* Ihid» p. a88.
But it is not true that Pro^>er has
called him a deacon tf the Ritmem
Church.

* Simpiidus. He was elected to the
see of Bourges whilst still a layman.
On the vacancy occasioned by the
death of his father Eulodius, who
was his immediate predccesaor, the
candidates for the see were so nu-
merousand turbulent, that thccitiKns

CHAP. J.] Probably a Native of Gaul.

Z79

who was elected Archbishop of Bourges in ^jz. The Paiu-
had been married to a lady of this family, the eminent in
daughter of Palladius, a former prelate of the
same see, who became archbishop, a.d. 377, and
seems to have lived beyond 45 1 . He was pro-
bably the Palladius whose name appears in this
latter year subscribed to the synodical epistle of
the Gallican bishops, addressed to Pope Leo V,
on the question then mooted as to the jurisdic-
tion of the Churches of Aries and Vienne,
Some have made a second archbishop of the
name, distinguishing the Palladius of 451, who
subscribed the synodical epistle, from the Palla-

of Bourges deputed the celebrated
Sidonius Apollinarisy then but re-
cently promoted to the see of Arverni
(now Clermont in Auvergne), to
nominate their Archbishop, binding
themselves by oath to acquiesce in his
selection. His correspondence with
the bishops of the province on this
subject is still extant, and also the
speech in which he announced to the
people of Bourges his choice of Sim-
plicius, and his reasons for the selec-
tion. In this discourse he mentions
incidentally the wife of Simplicius :
* His wife,' he says, * descends from
the family of the Palladii, who have
filled their chairs both of letters and
of altars,- with the applause of their
order. And inasmuch as the person of
the matron ' [she was probably pre-
sent] * requires that she should be
mentioned in a becoming manner as
well as briefly, I would strongly affirm
that that woman worthily represents
the priesthood of both, whether we
re^rd her birth and education, or her
after life when chosen as a wife : ' in
other words she was worthy of the
priesthood both of her father, who had
been Archbishop of Bourges, and of
her husband, now chosen to the same

dienity. The ori^nal words are as
foUow : * Uxor illi dc Palladiorum
stirpe descendit, qui aut literarum,
aut altarium cathedras cum sui ordi-
nislaudetenuenint. Sane quia persona
matrons verecundam succinctamque
sui exigit mentionem, constanter ad-
struxerim, respondere illam feminam
sacerdotiis utnusque, vel ubi educata
crevit, vel ubi electa migravit.' From
this it appears that the Palladian
family had distinguished itself in the
fifth century (Sidonius wrote these
words in 47a),both in literature and
in the church : and possibly the words
altarium cathedras may contain an
allusion to Palladius the first bishop
of the Scots, as well as to Palladius
the Archbishop of Bourses : for the
authors of the Gallia Christiana (vol.
ii. p. 7) tell us that there was no
other bishop of the name in that age.
See the Works of Sidonius Apolli-
naris, lib. vii. epist. 9. Biblioth,
Patrum, LugJun., 1677, tom. vi.
p. nil. 12.

* Pope Leo L See the Letter of
Pope Leo: Epist. 50 (Opp.cd. Ques-
nel, Ludg, i7oo),tom. i. p. 271, and
the Epistola Synodica Episcoporum
Gallorum, ib. p. 288.

28o Palladius a Galilean Missionary, [chap.i.

dius who became archbishop in 377. But this

opinion is not adopted by the authors of the

Palladius Gallia Christiana.^ There is another circum-

probably of

GauL Stance, also, not the less valuable because it is
told incidentally in the lives of St, Patrick,
which seems to point to Gaul as the country of
Palladius, first bishop of the Scoti. After his
death, his disciples, Augustine and Benedict,
we are told, went, on their return home, to a
place called Ebmoria, or Eboria^, where they
made a report of their master's decease. Con-
jecture has been busy in the attempt to discover
the modern name and exact position of this
place. All, however, agree that it must have
been in France.^ If so, France was probably the
country from which Palladius and his com-
panions came ; and the mission to Ireland, of
which he was the head, although sanctioned by
the see of Rome, was in reality projected and
sent forth by the Gallican Church.

Sent to the The question of the country or birthplace of

Ireland.

^ Gallia Christiana, It is advo- ica^ or E^ureux, the cipital of the

cated however by Tillenionty Me- people called by Caesar (ib. iii. 17)

moires, torn. xvi. pp. 239, 751. Aulerci Eburovices, EccL Hist, L p.

' Eboria. This name is written 196, sq. Ehorolacmm^ or EhrtSmmf

Ebmoria in the Book of Armagh : now Et/rtuU, in Auyeme, is men-

Euboria, bv Probus : Eboria, by the tioned by Sidonius Apollinaris, lib.

authors ot the second and fourth iii. epist. 5 Hyfaii§^ (Bih&tiJk, Peh

lives. Colgan has suggested that it trum, vi. p. 1089.) But these are

may mean Bologna, assuming Eboria mere conjectures,

to be an error of the scribe for Bono- ' France, The opinion of the

nia. But he prefers Liege, which BoUandists, that Epcredia or hfrea^

wuK in the country of the Eburones in Piedmont, was intended, » un-

mentioned by Cx'sar {Bell. Gall. ii. worthy of notice. See Lanigan, L

4. vi. 31), and may have been called p. 197. Eboria raust have been some-

Ehoria or Eburia. Tr. Th., p. 1 1, n. where near the coast from which St.

34, p. 254. Lanigan suggests £^«- Patrick embarked for Britain.

CHAP. I.] Sent to the Scots of Ireland. 281

Palladius, however, is of minor consequence. A
more important enquiry is — who were the
Scots to whom he was sent ? This cannot now
be doubtful.^ In the age of Prosper, as every-
body now knows, the inhabitants of Ireland
were the only Scoti ; but, even if this were
otherwise, the words of Prosper settle the
question. ^ Pope Celestine,* he says, in a pas-
sage already quoted, ' whilst he laboured to keep
the Roman island Catholic, made the barbarous
island Christian." As the modern Scotland can,
with no propriety, be called an island, there
cannot be a doubt that Prosper believed Palladius
to have been sent to the Scots of Ireland.^

It has been said, that as Palladius was sent to Not to the
the Scots, who were already believers in Christ, scoi"*^
and as Ireland was not at that time Christian, the
North British Scots must have been intended.^
But if we are to receive as history the story of
Pope Victor, and the imaginary King Donald,
the Albanian Scots had been converted to Christ
in the third century ; and just before the times of

* Doubtful. See Colgan's disscr- that Baronius evidently leans to the

tation on this subject, Append. V, opinion that Palladius was sent to

ad Acta S. Patr. cap. 14. (7>. Th, North Britain. AnnaL A.D. 429 n.

p. 245, sq.) Dr. Reeves's Adamnan \ 4.

Lanigan, EccL Hist, of Ireland. ' Intended. This, Solliere says, is

Innes, Ci'vil and Eccl. Hist, of Scot- the Achillean argument of the mo-

land. In fact this question is now dern Scotch writers : * Hie rei totius

decided, and at rest. nodus, is fermc Scotorum Achilles

^ Ireland. Solliere says (speaking est, verum si recte expendatur, ipsis

of the words of Prosper, just quoted), aeque ac Hibemis solvendus : cum

* Insula barbara, ab insula Britannica necdum satis constet per id tempus

Romana sejuncta et contradistincta magis credentem fiiisse gentem unam

non potest non esse Hibernia.' Actt. quam alteram, &c.' Acta SS. Ibid.
SS, loc. cit. p, 288, E. It is curious

282

Ireland the only Scotia [chap. i.

Ireland the
only Scotia
in the fifth
century.

Palladius, St. Ninian, as wc are told by the
author of his life, had divided the country into
parishes or dioceses.^ If so, how could Palladius
have been the Jirst bishop ? Did Pope Celcstine
so entirely forget the labours of his predecessors,
Victor and Damasus, as to suppose that he was
himself the first to send a bishop to the Scoti ?
Did he forget that Ninian was a bishop, sent also,
as is alleged, from Rome? Or, if he regarded
Ninian as sent to the Picts, and not to the Scots,
can we believe that the Scots, christianised in the
days of Pope Victor, unlike the rest of the Chris-
tian world, were without bishops^ for upwards
of two centuries, until Palladius went over, * ad
Scotos credentes in Christo primus episcopus ? *

This question, once debated with extraordinary
heat by the Scotch and Irish writers of the 1 7th
century, may now be discussed more calmly.
Whoever reads the works of Bede and Adamnan
will not need to be informed that, even in their
times, Sco/ia meant no country but Ireland, and
Scoti no people but the inhabitants of Ireland.
In the former half of the fifth century, the tribes

' Dioceses, Aildredi Vit. S. Nini-
ani, c. vi. : * Cocpit deinde saccr Pon-
tifex ordinarePresbyteros,consccrarc
episc^opos, etc. totam terram per ccr-
tas parochias dividerc.' Pinkcrton
Fit, Ant, Sanctorum f p.ii. St. Ni-
nian is supposed to have died A.D.
430 or 432, the very date of the
mission of Palladius. Ussher, InJ,
Chron. A.D. 432.

'-' IVithout bishops. This latter al-
ternative is adopted by Buchanan
and many Scotch writers. Fordun,

to meet the difficulty , asserts that the
antient Scotish church was ministered
to by priests and monks only. Abp.
SpottiswoodN Hist. vol. i. p. i],
(fiannatyne Club, Edinb. 1850}.
Ussher, Antiqq. c. 16. (Woriw,vi.
p. 354.) And see what Innes has
said on this subject, (Ch/, mmd EceL
Hist. p. 59, so.) in reference to the
use made of ttiis supposed absence
of bishops, in the Presbyterian con-
troversy.

CHAP. I.] in the Fifth Century. 283

of Scoti, who had some time before settled in
the islands and western coasts of Argyle, were
not known or regarded as a people distinct from
the Scoti of Ireland. They had no kings^ or
chieftains of their own, they had no fixed seats
in the country to which they had migrated ; it
was impossible that they could have been
specially designated by the name of Scoti. The
Scots, who appeared in alliance with the Picts in
their inroads upon the Roman provinces of
Britain, were not exclusively those who had
taken up an abode in Argyleshire, but tribes who
came direct from Ireland to the assistance of
their kinsmen. The name of Scots was natu-
rally given to all. The distinction between those
Scoti who had seized habitations in the islands
and wilds of the western coast north of Britain,
and those Scoti who had come over as reinforce-
ments direct from Ireland, was not, perhaps, so
much as noticed by the Roman colonists who
had to repel their incursions. Thus the poet
Claudian^, in one of his panegyrics, speaking of
the victory of Theodosius over the Picts and
Scots, A.D. 398, represents Thule as warm with
Pictish blood, and icy Erinn^, weeping over her
heaps of slaughtered Scots : —

* Kings. The year 502 is the See Reeves*s Eccl. Hist, of Down and

date assigned by the Irish annals for Connor, p. 319, sq.
the settlement of King Fergus mqr ' Clatuiian. De quarto consulatu

mac Eire, and the Dalriadan tribe Honorii. Paneg. v. 8a.
in North Britain, or rather for his • ^ Icy Er inn. The Romans believed

death there, and the commencement Ireland to be a country of perpetual

of the Dynasty founded by him. ice and snow : as if they took i/i^^m^z

284

Isolated Christians in Ireland. [chap. i.

Incaluit Pictorum sanguine Thulc,

Scotorum cumulos flevit glacialis lerne.

Palladlus
not sent to
oppose the
Pelagian
heresy.

Scattered
Christians
in Ireland.

assuming evidently that the Scots all came from
lerne or Erinn, without any allusion to those
who had made themselves a home in Britain.

There is not the slightest authority for the as-
sertion, hazarded by some modern Scotch writers',
that Palladius was sent to the Scots to oppose
the Pelagian heresy. Not a single antient author
has made this statement. And, in fact, it is cer-
tain that Palladius was not sent to refute Pela-
gianism, because there was no Pelagianism,
either in Alba or in Erinn, in the fifth century,
for Palladius to refute.

We must, therefore, conclude that the be-
lieving Scots to whom Palladius was sent were
the Scots of Ireland. Although the island was
still Pagan, in reference to the large majority of
its inhabitants, there is good reason to believe
that many scattered individuals, and probably
some isolated congregations, were to be found
there, at this early period, who were * believers
in Christ ;* and such congregations, or individual

to signify wintry. Bcde was better
informea : — * Hibemia autem et la-
tttudine sui status, et salubritate ac
serenitate aenim, multum Britannise
pnestat, ita ut raro ibi nix plusquam
triduana remaneat/ Lib. i. c. i.

* iVriters. Buchanan, Rer. Scot.
lib. V. Even Archbishop Spot-
tiswood has adopted this opinion.
Hist. i. p. 12. See Lanigan, Hist.
\. p. 47. Ware also was misled
by the bold as.sertions of the Scotch,
and .attributes to the mission of

Palladius the double object of
preaching Christianity and subveit-
mg the Pelagianism, then, as be
says, beginning to sprout or Jnlmmd :
— ' A Celestino missus turn ad fidcm
Christianam propagandam turn ad
Pelagianam haeresim, tunc apud Hi-
bemos pullulantem, extirpandam.*
De Script. Hihent, lib. ii. c. i. But
how could the Pelagian heresy be in
Ireland at that time, when the island
was Pagan ? and is there a shadow
of authority for such a statement f

CHAP. I.] Palladtus the First Bishop. ^285

believers, greatly needed the unity* which a
bishop alone could give them.

The fable of four bishops and several priests Paiiadjus
in Ireland, before the preaching of St. Patrick, is ofthcScou.
indeed the only difficulty in the way of receiving
in their plain and obvious meaning the words of
Prosper, that Palladius was the first bishop sent
to the Irish Scots. Even Ussher was disposed
to give credit to that fable^ and suggested that
primus episcopus may mean chief or principal
bishop. Others have conjectured that Palladius
was called * primus episcopus,' because he was
the first bishop sent by Celestine, St. Patrick
being the second^; and others again would cut
the knot by maintaining that the word primus
is an erroneous reading, omitted^ in some copies
of the Chronicle.

But the reader whose mind is unbiassed by wcntto
theories of an antient church in Scotland, and of
ante-Patrician bishops in Ireland, will have no
difficulty in receiving the statement of Prosper
in its literal sense, that Palladius was the first
bishop sent from Rome to the scattered be-
lievers among the Scots ; and that the Scots to
whom he was sent were the inhabitants of Ire-
land is evident, not only for the reasons already
stated, but also from the historical fact that it
was to Ireland he went. Let us examine the

* Unity. See above Introd. sect. ' Second. Innes, Ci*u. and EccL

87, p. 221. Hw/. p. 54.

^ Fable. See Introd. sect. 81 — 85, * Omitted. Usshcr's Antiquitt. c.

p. 198, sq. supra. xvi. (Works vi. p. 354).

2S6 Irish Traditions of Palladius. [chap.

He landed
in the
county of
Wicklow.

traditions which he has left behind him in the
two countries.

The Irish authorities tell us that, having
received his mission from Pope Celestine, he
went at once to Ireland, and landed in the region
of the Hy Garchon, that is to say, in the country
inhabited by the descendants of Garchu\ a chief-
tain whose genealogy is known. The particular
district is called by the scholiast on Fiacc's Hymn,
Fortuatba Laigben, or the * Stranger Tribes* of
Leinster,' a region which seems to have included
the celebrated valley of Glendaloch^ extending
probably to the sea. A scholiast* on the Mar-
tyrology of Acngus informs us that the territory
of Hy Garchon, or Ui Garchon, was in the
Fotbarta of Lelnster, which some have inter-

* Garchu, The genitive of Gar-
chu is Garchon. Hy or Ui Garchon
sienifies descendants of Garchu.

His genealogy is given in the Ap-
pend, to the Introd. '— * * "
supra.

Table V. p. 253,

' Stranger Tribes. The Scholia on
Fiacc's Hymn, (original Irish, in the
MS. at St. Isidore's Convent, Rome)
has ifortuathib LaigAen, which Col-
^n renders, ' in extremis Lageniae
finibus,' or * the lower districts of
Leinster.' Tr Th. p. 5 : * Venit ergo
Palladius in Hibemiam : et appulit
in regione de Hi Garrchon m ex-
tremis Lagenix finibus, &c.' But
the word Fortuatha certainly means
* Stranger tribes ' not belonging to
the race or clan of the chief^in.
There were Fortuatha in Munster,
{Book of Rights J p. 78, with Dr.
O' Donovan's note) in Aileach, Co.
of Derry (/A. p. 120.) in Ulidia (/A.
p. 172.)

5 GUndaloch. A life of St.
Cocmhgen, or Kevin, quoted by
Usshcr, /'r/OTor*/. p. 956 (Works, vi.

P* 5^5)> speaking of Glendaloch,
says, * ipnque civitas est in oriente
Laginensium in regione qu« dicitur
Fortuatha,^ Who the < stranger
tribes* were who gave name to this
district is doubtful. The 0*Tooles
were driven fix»n their original scats
in Kildare, and settled in this region
of the Co. of Wicklow, in the i tth,
or beginning of the 1 3th century.
But the name of Fortuatha Laigfaen
was given to the district long before
that time. See Dr. 0'Doiiovan*s
note. B. of Rights^ pp. 107, aio.
Topograph. Poems, pp. xlvii, (367),
Iv. (450).

^ SckoGast. The Scholia on the
Felire of Aengus, at August ttth,
tell us that St. Emin, son cf Crt-
sine,wasofRathnoi,nr uih Gmrckoa
i Fothartaihh Laigken, * in Ui Gar-
chon in the Fotnarta of Ldnster.*
And the same words occur in the
gloss on the' name of St. Emin in
the Calendar of Marian O^Gorman,
(18 Aug). See Reeves,
p. 25, note i.

CHAP. I.] Antlent Narratives of bis Acts. 287

pretcd to signify the barony of Forth ^ in the
county of Wexford. But as the same authority
speaks of the Church of Rathnoi, now Rathnew^
near the town of Wicklow, as situated in Hy
Garchon, and in the Fotbarta of Leinster, it is
evident that the same district must be intended
by both names. We may, therefore, conjecture
that it received the former name, Fortuatba, or
* stranger tribes,* from the Fotbarta^ or family of
Eochadh Finn Fothart*, who settled there, having
been driven from their original seat near Tara,
county of Meath, about the middle of the third
century. It is well known that this tribe gave
name to several districts, still from them called
Fortbs^, in different parts of the south-east of
Ireland.

Palladius, therefore, according to the Irish
tradition preserved in these authorities, must
have landed on some part of the strand where
the town of Wicklow now stands, and then
proceeded into the interior of the country.

Of his subsequent history some antient narra- Andent
tives are extant, the source of all that is to be ^f"^
found on the subject, in the Lives of St. Patrick, S^*!"'
the Historia of Ncnnius, and other records.
These we must now examine.

I. The first of them occurs in the Life of St. Firu

DoCOIBCIIt.

> F^rtJk. See Lanigan, EccL Hist, Sec Introd. Append. Tible TV. p.

i p. 40. 151, /ir/rr.

< E9€M04iM Fimrn Fotkart. He was * Forths. See OTlaherty, Ogyg.

«4«n of Felimidh the Lawgiver, King p. 314, 315. O^Domnran, BMf/*

<>t Ireland, a.D. 164 — 174, and bro- Rights ^ p. aai, m.
thcr uf Con of the Hundred Fights.

^288 Authorities for the History [chap. i.

Patrick, written, as there is reason to think, not
later than a.d. 700, and preserved in the Book
of Armagh, a MS. of the early part of the 9th
century. The words of this author^ are as
follows : —

^ Palladius was ordained and sent to convert this island, lying
under wintry cold, but God hindered him, for no man can
receive anything from earth unless it be given him from
heaven ; for neither did those fierce and savage men receive
his doctrine readily, nor did he himself wish to spend time in a
land not his own, but he returned to him who sent him. On
his return hence, however, afrer his first passage of the sea,
having commenced his land journey, he died in the territories of
the Britons.

^ Therefore, when the death of Palladius in the Britains
was heard of (for the disciples of Palladius, viz. Augustinus
and Benedictus and the rest, on their return, brought the news
of it to Ebmoria), then Patrick and those who were with
him,' &c.

The very words of this narrative are appro-
priated by the author of the Second Life of St.
Patrick in Colgan's Collection, and also by Probus,
author of the Fifth Life, with no material altera-
tion except that they changed ' territories of the
Britom ' into * territories of the Picts.*^

^ Author. Maccuthenius, as Us- minesfacilereciperuntdoctTinamejus

shcr erroneously calls him (^see p. neque et ipse voluit tnniegcre ton-

314/1.) The original is as follows i pus in terra non sua, ned revcmn ad

' Certe enim erat quod Palladius eum qui misit ilium. Rnrcitente

archidiaconus Papae Celestini urbis vero eo hinc et prime mart tnnuto

Komx episcopi qui tunc tenchat coeptoque teinrum itenere firitooum

sedem apONtolicam quadragensimus finibus vita factus* [read fiimetms\

(luintus a Sancto Pctro apostolo B. of Armagh^ fol. i, m, au For

illc Palladius ordinatus et missus the age of the Book of Armagh

fucrat ad hanc insolam sub bnimali see Dean Graves*s valuable paper in

figure [Pfrigorelpovsitamconverten- the Proceedings of the Royal Irish

dam. Sed prohibuit ilium [Deus ?], Academy, iii. 316. The evidence

3uia nemo potest acci{)ere quicquam goes to show that this curious MS

c terra nisi datum ci fucrit de cselo. was transcribed A.D. 807.
Nam neque hii f'eri et immitcb ho- ' Picts, The Vita Seopulm says

CHAP. I.] of Palladius. z^g

II. Equal in antiquity to this is the following second
passage in the ' Annotations of Tirechan/ on the Annotations
Life of St. Patrick, also preserved^ in the Book °

of Armagh. From this we learn the remarkable
fact that Palladius was called by another name,
Patrick : —

^ Palladius the bishop is first sent, who by another name
was called Patricias, who suffered martyrdom among the Scots,
as antient saints relate. Then Patricius the Second is sent by
the angel of God, named Victor, and by Pope Celestine. In
whom all Hibernia believed, and who baptised almost the whole
of it.'

By the Scots in this passage, it is needless to
say, the Irish Scots must be intended.

III. Another antient version of the story. Third
which contains some additional particulars, occurs &:*hoikrtoii
in the Scholia on Fiacc's Hymn, published by ^"**'
Colgan as the First Life in his collection of the
Biographies of St. Patrick. The original Irish of
these Scholia is preserved in the copy of the Book

of Hymns now in the convent of St. Isidore at
Rome, a MS. of the nth or irjth century; but
the author of the Scholia flourished, no doubt, at
an earlier period.

After recording the arrival of Palladius. in

* in Pictavorum (meaning Pictonim) est apud Scottos, ut tradunt sancti

finibus defunctus est/ cap. 23. (^Tr, antiqui. Deinde Patricius secundus

Th, p. 13.) Probus (lib. i. c. 24) ab an^elo Dei Victor nomine, et a

says * Cumque aggressus Palladius Celestmo Papa mittitur. Cui Hiber-

mare transmeasset,et ad fines Picto- nia tota credidit, qui earn pene totam

r«/tt pervenisset, ibidem vita deccssit.* babtizavit." Lib. Armach. fol. 16,

T^r, Ik. p. 4.8. a. a. Tirechan flourished about the

* Presernjed. The original words close of the 7th century : as he was

are « Paladius episcopus primo mit- a disciple of St. Ultan, who died,

titur, qui Patricius alio nomine accordmg to the annals of Tigher-

appcUabatur, qui martyrium passus nach, A.D.657. Colgan,Tr.T>>.p.2i7.

U

290 Narrative by the Scholiast [chap. i.

the country of the Hy Garchon, in the words
to which we have already referred^ this author
says : —

* He [Palladius] founded there some churches, viz., Teach"
na-Romariy or the House of the Romans, Killfinty and others.
Nevertheless, he was not well received by the people, but was
forced to go round the coast of Ireland towards the north, until
driven by a great tempest he reached the extreme part of
Modhaidh towards the south, where he founded the church of
Fordun, znA PUdi is his name there.*

^^^^^jj*^^^ These accounts are certainly at variance with
accounts, g^ch othcr, and give rise to the suspicion that the
truth has been tampered with. In one version of
the story Palladius is represented as having gone
to the country of the Britons, on his way back to
Pope Celestine, and as having there died. Wc are
not told what part of the country of the Britons
he had reached, or in what particular place he
died. Nothing is said of a storm*, or of his

^ Referred, Sec note 2, p. 186. of the headland now called Kiimaini
Colgan, Tr. Th. p. 5, col. i. The Head, the N.E. coast of Aberdeen-
words are : ' Non fiiit bene ab illis shire. Cenm mrtkhr signifies ' East-
exceptus, sed coactus circuire oras em head/

Hibemix versus aquilonem, donee ' Stvrm. Nennius (cap. 55, j

tandem tempestate magna pulsus, Hut, Brit, ^, 7 1) mentions the stonn,

venerit ad extremam partem Modh- although his account ames in odicr

aidh versus austrum ; ubi fundavit respects even verbally with docmncat

ecclesiam Fordun j et Pledi est nomen No. i : ' Missusest Palladius eoiscopos

ejus ibi.* It is much to be regretted primitus a Coelestino Papa Romuo

that the original Irish of this passage ad Scottos in Christum converteiidasy

in the MS. at St. Isidore's in Rome, qui prohibitus est a Deo per <(iiiidam

is now almost illegible. It seems, tempestates, quia nemo potot qaie-

however, to have contained a more ouam accipere in terra nisi de coelo

particular account of the course sailed datum illi hierit. Et profectns est iUe

than Colgan's version hxs preserved. Palladius deHibemia,penrenitqiiead

After mentioning the great storm, Britanniam, et ibi defiinctus est in

the words co roact co cend airter terra Pictorum.* The land of the

descertach are visible : ' So that he Picts therefore was reeardcd by this

reached Ceim air t Air southwards." author as a part of Bntanniau The

It does not appear what place was Irish version of Nennius (p. to6)

intended, but Cenn-airthir may pos- has only these words, * Pledius was

sibly have been the antient name driven from Erin wod went aad

CHAP. I.] on the Hymn of St. Fiacc. 291

having been driven from his course. The story
implies that he crossed the sea in the usual way,
and met vsrith no disaster, until he had com-
menced his land journey. If his object had been
to go by the shortest route to Rome, he vv^ould
naturally have sailed from the shores of Wicklow^
to the opposite coast of Wales. It is probable,
however, that such a route may have at that
period been dangerous or impracticable, and that
in travelling to Rome it was necessary to make
for the Roman provinces in North Britain.
Subsequent writers, although evidently building
on this antient biography in the Book of Armagh,
make Palladius to have gone much more north-
ward, and to have died in the region of the Picts.
They appear to have so interpreted the antient
narrative, although that narrative speaks of the
territory of the Britons only, not of the Picts.
It did not occur to them to explain why Palla-
dius had travelled so far north if his object had
been merely to return to Pope Celestine who had
sent him.

The other story, however, as given by Fiacc's
Scholiast, meets this difficulty. On leaving Hy
Garchon in Wicklow, Palladius sailed northwards
along the coast of Ireland, but was driven by a great
storm still fiirther north, towards the Orkneys,
perhaps through Pentland Firth, and was unable
to land, or, at least, effected no permanent

served God in Fordun, in Maime.' event and the mission of St. Patrick
No mention is made of his death, by Pope Celestine.
nor of any connexion between that

U 2

2g:2 Discrepancies in the [chap. i.

landing, until he had got down to the shores of
Kincardineshire. However extraordinary, this
was certainly not impossible. The light boats or
coracles of that age were frequently driven to
considerable distances. It will be observed that
in this version of the story nothing is said of an
intention on the part of Palladius to return to
Rome in despair. He is represented as having
been still intent upon prosecuting the object
of his mission. He sailed along the coast of
Ireland with that object in view, and when he
found himself driven from Ireland to the region
of the Picts, he lost no time in establishing a
Christian Church amongst that people.

The narrative of Tirechan (No. II.) entirely
ignores the voyage of Palladius to the Britons or
Picts, and represents him as having suffered mar-
tyrdom amongst the Scoti, the people to whom
he was sent in Ireland. No mention is made of his
companions, or of churches founded by him, in
either of the two earlier versions of his story.
The existence of these churches is recorded for
the first time in the document No. III. pre-
served by the Scholiast^ on Fiacc's hymn ; but it
is remarkable that Probus, the author of the
fifth Life in Colgan's collection, although he can
scarcely have been ignorant of the tradition,
makes no mention of the churches of Hy Gar-

* SchoGast, The age of this himself before the nth centurj. See

Scholiast is a subject of controversy, the Irish Book of Hymns (publ.

He seems to have collected legends by the Irish Archsol. and &ltic

of different dates, and to have lived Soc.)* p* «99» fq*

cunda.

CHAP. I.] History of Palladtus. 2g3

chon, or of Fordun. This looks as if he had
deliberately rejected that part of the legend.^

IV. The author of the ^ Vita Secunda/ after Fourth

- - • r ^i_ Document

quoting, as we have seen, the narrative oi the ViuSc-
Book of Armagh, which we have called Document
No. I., goes on to transcribe into his work another
account of the acts of Palladius, in which the
churches are mentioned as then actually existing
and well known. This account differs in many
respects from the former versions of the story, and
may, therefore, be regarded as an independent au-
thority. Colgan's opinion that the author of the
second Life flourished in the middle of the sixth
century, is founded on an argument^ singularly
weak and inconclusive. But we shall, probably,
not err very much, if we assiune that author to
have written about a.d. 900. His information
was probably derived from some now lost acts of
Palladius, of still higher antiquity ; and the nar-
rative alluded to, which we may call Document
No. IV., is probably not later than the eighth

^ Legend, The author of the M est episcopus Loame, &c.' cap.

Fita Tertia has also omitted the 31, * where bishop Loame is.' But

story of the churches, and follows this phrase signifies that Loarne

essentially the narrative No. I, con- was buried there, and therefore proves

eluding by the statement * Scd ille that Loarne was then dead : the very

mortuus est in regione Britonum.* reverse of the conclusion which Coi-

cap. 26. Tr. TA. p. 23. gan derives from it. The same ar-

^ An argument. The argument gument would prove this author to

is that this author speaks of Loarne, have been contemporary with the

bishop of Brettan, now Bright, near companions of Palladius, for he says,

Downpatrick, as being alive when speaking of the Church of Domh-

he wrote. Loarne was a disciple nach Arda, * in which arc the holy

of St. Patrick, and could not men of the family of Palladius, Syl-

have lived beyond the middle of the vester, and Salonius.' Abundant

6th century. Therefore the words instances of this way of speaking

are < Sed hodie civitatula est quae di- may be found in the Martyrology ot

citur Inreathan, [read in Breathan"] Donegal and other authorities.

294 Testimony of the Author of the [chap. i.

century. It stands isolated in our author's work ;
being inconsistent in some respects with the
account which immediately precedes it, and
having no connection with what follows. The
words are these : —

^ For * the most blessed Pope Caelestine ordained bishop an
archdeacon of the Roman Church, named Palladius, and sent
him into the island of Hibernia, after having committed to him
the relics of the blessed Peter and Paul, and other saints, and
having also given him the volumes of the Old and New Tcsto-
ments. Palladius, entering the land of the Scots', arrived at
the territory of the men of Leinster, where Nathi Mac Garr-
chon^ was chief, who was opposed to him. Others, however,
whom the divine mercy had disposed towards the worship of
God, having been baptised in the name of the sacred Trinity,
the blessed Palladius built three churches in the same district.
One, which is called Cellfine^ in which even to the present
day, he left his books which he had received from St.
Caelestine, and the box of Relics of the blessed Peter and
Paul and other saints, and the tablets on which he used to
write, which in Scotish are called from his name PaU-ere [or
Pallad-erely that is, the Burden of Palladius, and are hdd in
veneration. Another, viz., Tech na Roman [the House of the
Romans] \ and the third Domnach ardec [or Domnach Arachd\^
in which are [buried] the holy men of the Hunily^ of Palladius,

> Tor. * Nam beatissimus Papa, * Scots. It will be obtenred that

&c.' Colgan, 7r. Ti*. page 13. /7/. what is here called 'teiramScotomm/

Sfcunda, cap. 24. The nam in was just before tenned ' Hibcrniani

this passage has no connexion with insulam/

what precedes \ the words immedi- ' Nat^i Mac Garrckom, It hat al-

ately preceding record the death of ready been observed (see p. 154),

Pallaaius : ' in Pictavorum finibus that the Mac is here used to ngnity

defunctus est \ then follows, ' nam a more remote descendant than Sm

beatissimus papa . . . Palladium in the literal sense of the word. See

episcopum ordmavit/ Nothing can the genealogy of Garchu»

snow more clearly that our author of the tribe or clan Hy GaFchony

transcribed this document from some in the Appendix to the Introduction,

antient source, and inserted it with- Table V.

out considering its connection with ^ Famify^ i.e. of his attendants-—

the preceding matter in his narra- the clergy who accompanied him s

tive. See above, Introd. p. 159.

CHAP. 1.] second Life of St. Patrick. 29$

Sylvester and Salonius, who are honoured there. After a
short time, Palladius died in the plain of Girgin, in a place
which is called Forddun. But others say that he was crowned
with martyrdom there.' *

The new facts recorded in this narrative are New facts
that the Pope, on giving Palladius his commission, [hc**Fourth
presented him with certain relics of Peter, Paul, **^""^'"
and other saints, together with copies of the Old
and New Testaments ; that Nathi, chief of the
Hy Garchon, who is not mentioned in the former
accounts, opposed him on his landing in Wicklow;
that, nevertheless, he baptised several of the in-
habitants, and built or founded three churches ;
in one of these. Cell-finely he deposited the relics,
together with the copies of the Old and New
Testaments, given him by the Pope, and the
tablets on which he was wont to write. In
another of these churches, called Dombnacb Arda^y
his companions, Silvester and Solinus,were buried,
and their memory afterwards held in honour.
No mention is made of the cause of his leaving
Ireland, nor of the adventures which carried him
to North Britain. But it is said that he died in

* Therf. The origin of this that it is for f i«-/^rA, i.e. -^Edes Fine,

opinion seems to have been derived or house of the tribe. If so the

from the words of Tirechan, * qui word Ecclesia would be redundant,

martyrium passus est apud ScottosJ* Tr. Th, p. 49, note 17. It is now

And if the writer interpreted this unknown.

word to mean the Albanian Scots, ' Domhnack Arda, Variously

he must have lived at a later period written Domhnach Ardec^ D. Arda-

than that which we have assigned cha^ D, Airte, The name D. Arda

to him. signifies Church of the high place. D.

' Cell-fine. This name seems to Ardacha, Church of the high field,

signify 'Church of the tribe* or The other forms are probably mere

* people.' In the Vita Quarta, attri- errors of transcription. This church

buted to St. Aileran, it is called is supposed to be the same as the

Ecclesia Finte : this is most probably present Donard, in the County of

a mistake, although Colgan says Wicklow, near Dunlavin.

2g6 Narrative given in the [chap. i.

Campo Girgin, or Magb-Girgin\ the country of
the Picts, at a place called Fordun. It is not said
that he built a church there, and the fact that he
suffered martyrdom there is stated to have been
the opinion of some only.
Fifth V. The Fourth Life in Colgan's collection is

vitaj;)uaiu. attributed by him to St. Aileran or Eleran,
without any apparent reason, except that St.
Aileran was reputed to have written a Life of
St. Patrick, and that the Fourth Life, in
Colgan's judgment, was compiled about the
middle of the seventh century, when St. Aileran*
was alive. Therefore, this Fourth Life is by
St. Aileran. However, it is certainly antient,
and cannot well be referred to a period much
later than the close of the eighth or begin-
ning of the ninth century. The traditions it
has preserved of the history of Palladius may be
quoted as a fifth antient dociunent. After men-
tioning the consecration of Palladius, and his
mission to Ireland by Pope Celestine, this author'
proceeds : —

* Therefore when Palladius arrived there in the territory of

^ Magh'Girgin. The antient Gir^n,* the plain of Girgin/Moetney

name of the Memis or Meames Maime, and Modaidh, were probtblj

(old spelling Moeme). The story all names for the region of tlie PictSy

of the Picts who emigrated from now Kincardineshire^ in which the

Ireland after receiving their wives church of Fordoun stood. Inthiftdit-

from the Milesians, (Book of Lecan, trict was settled in later timet la IriA

fol. 141 a.) names Maeh-Cirgin tribe, called the £<|fAAMrA/ of Migh

as the district of North Britain Girgin, from their ancestor Eoghaa

in which they settled. Irish Nen- mor, son of OilioU Oluim. 0*Fb-

«/«/, p. Ixxi. Fordun is said to be herty, Ogyg, p. 31!.
<in Maime/ (/^f</. p. 106). The * .f/. ifi^rtfxr. His death is leconkd

Scholiast on Fiacc says that Fordun in the Irish Annals, 19 Dec. 664.
was ' in the extreme part of Modhaidh * This author. Cap. it. Colgaii»

towards the south,* so that Magh Tr. Th. p. 38.

CHAP. 1.] fourth Life of St. Patrick. zgy

the Lagenians', he began to preach the word of God. But,
inasmuch as Almighty God had not predestined the Hibernian
people to be brought by him from the error of heathenism to
the faith of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, he remained there
only a few days. Nevertheless, a few did believe through him.
And in the same district he founded three churches — in eodem
pago tres eccUsias comtitutt — one which is called EccUsia Finte^
in which, even to the present day, are preserved his books,
which he had received from Celestine, and a box with the
relics of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and other saints ;
and the tablets on which he used to write, which are called
from his name in Scottish, Pallad-ir, i.e., the burden of Palla-
dius, and are held in great veneration. Another church was
built by the disciples of Palladius, and is called the House of the
Romans, Domus Romanorum, The third is the church which is
called Dominica Arda^ in which are [buried] holy men of the
companions of Palladius, viz., Silvester and Solinus, whose relics
after some time were carried to the island of Boethin, and
are there held in merited honour. But St. Palladius seeing that
he could not do much good there, wishing to return to Rome,
migrated to the Lord in the region of the Picts. Others,
however, say that he was crowned with martyrdom in Hibemia.'

The writer of this account has added to the Addidoiui
information given us in the other documents ?nthc'*Hfth
that the sojourn of Palladius in Ireland was only
* for a few days ;'^ that the church called ' House
of the Romans ' was built by the disciples of
Palladius, not by Palladius himself; and that the
relics of his companions Sylvester and Solinus,
after having remained for some time at Domhnach
Arda, were translated to Inis-Boetbin, or the island
of St. Boethin, and were there venerated in the
time of the writer.

This place was situated within the townland inji-Boc-
of Inishboheen, or Inishboyne, to which it has

^ Lagenians. Lagcniensium, the * Days* * Paucb ibi diebus pcr-

men of Lcinster. mansit.'

Document

thin, where.

298 North British Traditions [chap. i.

given its name, in the parish of Dunganstown,
barony of Arklow, county of Wicklow. It was
burned, according to the Annals of Ulster*, in
the year 774 : and there is no record of the relics
having escaped. Our author therefore most
probably wrote before the church was burnt, if
the relics were there in his time. Boethin, the
saint from whom the church took its name, is
supposed to have flourished about the close of
the sixth^ and beginning of the seventh century.
The exact date of his obit has not been preserved
in the Irish Annals.

The martyrdom of Palladius by the Irish,
which Tirechan had recorded as a certain fact, is
mentioned by this author as the opinion of some
only. He says nothing of the storm, or of the
foimdation of a church among the Picts ; and
attributes the abandonment of the mission to
Palladius having despaired of success. But if
' in a few days ' Palladius had succeeded in bap-
tising some of the natives, as well as laying the
foundation of three churches, and was neverthe-
less dissatisfied with the results of his mission, his
expectations of success must have been sanguine
indeed.
Scotch The Scotch or North British traditions rc-

«bout Pal- specting Palladius are comparatively modem and

ladiut.

^ Annals of Ulster : or A.D. 770, daughter of Ronan son of Colman^

according to the Four Masters. King of Leinster. Roium^t death b

* Sixth. So says Colgan, 7r. Ti^. variously dated in the aniudt 6 10^6 199

p. 18, note 33. His Festival occurs 613, and 614. Boethiii may there-

(22 May) in the most antient Irish fore have lived to near the ck»e of

calendar, the Felire of Aengus, His the seventh centurjr.
mother is said to have been the

CHAP. 1.] of PalladtuSy unauthentic. 299

unauthentic. They can scarcely be traced to a
higher authority than the Scotichroniconof John
of Fordun\ who flourished in the fourteenth cen-
tury. The Breviary of Aberdeen, printed at Edin-
burgh 1509 and 1 5 10, contains the oldest known
calendar which marks the 6th of July as the festi-
val of St. Palladius; it is there given as a lesser^ fes-
tival, although he is styled * Apostle of the Scots.'
His relics (or supposed relics) were disinterred at
Fordun, and placed in a silver shrine^ by William
Schewes, Archbishop of St. Andrews, so late as
1494, where they continued to be venerated until
the Reformation.^ In the Lessons for his Day
given in the Breviary of Aberdeen, Palladius is
said to have been an Egyptian by birth, and to
have died not at Fordun, but ^at Langforgund^
in the Mearnes.' This is a remarkable proof
how vague the traditions of Scotland were
respecting Palladius, even so late as the begin-
ning of the sixteenth century. The traditions
followed by Archbishop Schewes, which fixed
Fordun as the death place of the saint, were
ignored in the neighbouring diocese of Aberdeen,

* John of Fordun, See Inncs, Ci*v, rank, who dwelt near that place.
& EccL Hist, of Scotland, p. 59. The people of the country, ob-

* Lesser. * Palladii episcopi et serving the decay which followed in
confessoris apostoli Scotonim, minus.' that family not many years after, as-
Bre*v. Aberd. {Prop. SS.) Prid. non. cribed the same to tne violation of
JuUi. This Breviary has been VdXhdxus'sspLy^.^ Hist, of the Church
beautifully reprinted, London, 1854. of Scotland, i. p. 13. (Bannatyne

' Shrine. Hector Boece, Scot. Club), 1850.

Hist. vii. fol. 128 b. (quoted by Us- * Langforgund. Bre*v, Aberd.

sher, Antiq. c. xv., IVorks, vi. p. {Prop. SS. Pars jEst.) Lcct. vi. fol.

211.) XXV. b. * Tandem beatus Palladius,

* Reformation. Archbishop Spot- variis per eundem miraculis Divini-
tiswode tells us that the silver shrine tus ostensis, annorum plenus apud
* was taken up at the demolishing of Lan^orgund in Memis in pace
the churches, by a gentleman of good requiescit beata.*

300 His Acts in Ireland ignored. [chaf. i.

and not without evidence of carelessness or mis-
take ; for it happens that Langforgund is a parish
not in the Mcames, but in the cast of Perthshire,
in Gowr}', a little to the west of Dundee, on the
north of the Firth of Tay, in another diocese and
at a considerable distance from Fordun.
PaCTq^ The Scotch traditions make no mention of
the imh the visit of Palladius to Ireland, or of the sup-
tiaditioiu. posed connection of his mission with that of St.
Patrick. They represent him also as having
laboured among the Picts for many years* after
the establishment of his church at Fordun.
Whereas the Irish writers are unanimous that
his life, after his consecration, was short, and
that he died before Pope Celestinc, who had
time after receiving the news of his death to
nominate his successor. But Palladius was con-
secrated, as Prosper expressly states, in the con-
sulship of Bassus and Antiochus, or a.d. 431,
and Pope Cclestine died in July 432. It was
impossible, therefore, that he could have lived at
Fordun more than a few months or weeks, so
that the traditions of the two countries arc here
directly contradictory and opposite.
TheCaien- It is to bc obscrvcd, also, that the Calendar
umoM of prefixed to the Breviary of Aberdeen is at variance
deen Bre- with thc Lcssons givcn in the same Breviary for
Tuuyatvan- ^^^ festival of Palkdius. In the Calendar, Palla-
dius is called 'Apostolus Scotorum,' implying that
by him the Scots were converted to Christianity.

^ Many years. Abp. Spottiswode rity : but he has not a woidof Iicland i
stays 23» I know not on wnat autho- ubt supra.

CHAP. I.] Companions of Palladius. 30 1

This ignores the story of the conversion of Scot-
land under Pope Victor in ^03. But this story
is nevertheless adopted^ in the Lessons, where
the statement of John of Fordun is repeated that
before the coming of Palladius the Scots had
received the faith in the time of Pope Victor,
and since that time had had priests and monks
only (not bishops) as teachers of doctrine and
ministers of the sacraments amongst them.

The Irish authorities have preserved the names com-
of four missionaries of inferior rank who had ac- SjiXr
companied Palladius from Rome, Sylvester and JSh*^*"**
Solinus ^re said to have been left behind in Ire- '"***^®"-
land, and their relics, as we have seen, continued
to be honoured there for centuries. Augustinus
and Benedictus, with others whose names are not
given, are represented as having followed Palla-
dius into Britain, but upon his death they re-
turned to their homes, and are said to have
brought the news of that event not to Rome,
but to Ebmoria, or Eboria^, to St. Patrick.

The Scotch traditions state that Palladius Hisconvem
brought with him several companions^ from "s^and!
Rome, but name none. They mention, however,

*i#<^/f^. Lectio IV. fol. 24b.* Ante testimonio sequitur carmen ; Christi

quorum adventum Scotorum ^ens transactis tribus annis atque ducentis

praefata, per Marcum et Dionisium Scocia catholicam cepit inirc fidem

viros rcligiosos Christi, in magnam Roma Victore primo Papa residentc,

partem habcbant fidem, Romano pre- Principe Severo martyr et occubuit.'
sidente imperio Victore hujus nominis * Eooria. See above p. 280, note 2.
primo, qui pro Christi nomine durum ' Companions. * Secumque acccp-

subiit martyrium, habentes fidei doc- tis monachis nonnullis aliisque plu-

tores ct sacramentorum ministros ribus viris vite approbatissimis, &c.

presbiteros ct monachos, primitive Bre<u. Aherd. {?ropr. SS!) Lcct. iii.

ecclesie solummodo sequentes ritum {?ars JEstvv.) fol. xxiv. b.
et consuetudinem, de cujus historii

3o^

The Life of Palladlus

[chap. I.

two of his disciples or converts, Servanus and
Tervanus, or Ternanus, both natives of Scotland.
Servanus was converted in mature life, consecrated
by Palladius, and sent as a bishop to the Orkneys.^
He is said to have been the tutor of the celebrated
Kentigern^ or St. Mungo. Ternanus was bap-
tised by Palladius in infancy, and afterwards by
the same Palladius consecrated archbishop* of
the Picts, If this be true, the Life of Palladius
after he had settled among the British Picts

* Orkneys, Fordun, and the Les-
sons of the Breviary of Aberdeen,
represent Servanus as having been
consecrated to assist Palladius in his
episcopal duties : ' Etquia tante genti
mysteria pastoralia solus impendere
non sufficiebat, beatum Servanum, ut
in vinea Domini secum operaretur
doctrina ecclesiastica sufficienter im-
butum, et per eundem in episcopum
ordinatum, in omni Scotorum gente
suum constituit suffroganeum/ Brenj,
Aherd, {Propr, SS. i Jiil.) Pars jEsti^.
p. xvi. b. No mention is made of the
Orkneys. His mission there rests on
the authority of modem writers, Jo-
hannes Major, Polydore Vergil, and
Hector Boetius. In fact, Servanus or
St. Serf, belongs to the century after
Palladius. Ussher, Primnrd. p. 672,
/y. (fTorh vi. 2 1 2, sq.) Lanigan, EccL
Hut. ii. 167. On the 12th June, S.
Ternanus or Tervanus is commemo-
rated in the Scotch Calendar : and it
is curious that the name of Torannan
occurs at the same day, in the Irish
Calendar. The Mart, of Donegal, p.
167, supposes this Torannan to have
been an Irishman and Abbot of Ban-
gor in Ireland. ButthcScholiastonthe
Mart, of Aengus gives two opinions
about him, one of which oddly
enough identifies him with Palladius :
In the text he is called * Torannan,
the far famed voyager,' and the
Scholiast adds < viz. Palladius, who
was sent from the successor (Comarb)

of Peter to Erinn before Pitrick to
preach to them. He was not recehrcd
in Erinn, whereupon he went into
Albain ; et sepultus est in Licmk.
Or Torannan u the same as Motho-
ren of Tulach Foirtgem in Ui
Felmedhu and of Dnimcliabh ia
Cairpri/ Whatever nuy be thoijKfat
of the claims of Servanus and 'Ttt"
nanus to be deemed disciples of Fd-
ladius, it is evident that the legend
which speaks of one as bishop * in
omni Scotonim gente,* and of the
other as bishop of the Picts, most
have been invented before episcopal
sees were established in Scotland.
The Lessons in the Abeidcen Bre-
viary on 12 June, represent St. Ter-
nan as having visited Pope Gregofy
in Rome, who gave him a BclL See
also the Rmstrmm Bfuctfahu Jtter^
don, published by the SpaCding Club.
Append, to Pref. No. i, p. booivi.
note. St. Gregory the Great died
A.D. 602. St. Irchard, a disciple of
St. Teman, is commemorated to
Kal. Sept. (or 20 Au^.) : amd ac-
cording to the Lessons m the Bnrv.
Aherd,^ he was consecrated by St.
Gregory, and sent back to Kincar-
dineshire his native country.

* Kentigem, See Vita kemt^girmf
cap. 4. (Pinkerton, p. ao6.)

■ Arckkishop, So mys Hector
Boetius, ' Tervanum, quern infiui-
tem lustrico laverat fbnte PSctoram
archiepiscopum conitituit.* SkiT.

CHAP. I.] shortened by Irish Tradition. 303

requires a much longer duration than either the
Irish or Scotch writers have assigned to it.

It seems probable that the Irish biographers of The short
St. Patrick felt themselves compelled to shorten hdius
the life of Palladius in order to make room for '^^r'
the new commission to succeed him, which they ^^^^^^
assume to have been given to St. Patrick by
Pope Celestine. This is the great difficulty in
the history of both missionaries. It is not possi-
ble that Palladius could have effected all that he
is said to have effected in Ireland ' in a few days.*
It is even less possible that he could have effected
all that he is said to have effected amongst the
Picts, if there was time to make known his death
and to have his successor appointed at Rome,
within a year^ from his consecration. There is
reason to believe, therefore, that national vanity
and national prejudice have corrupted this part of
the history. Facts which were true of Palladius
only have been transferred to St. Patrick, and
the acts or legends of both saints mingled to-
gether in utter confusion. The martyrdom of
Palladius in Ireland, as recorded by Tirechan,
would diminish the difficulty. But it would
leave no room for his ministry in Scotland, and
it is rendered suspicious by that writer's anxiety to
quote for it the authority of ' antient saints,' who
are anonymous. Subsequent biographers repeat
the story as a doubtful opinion, or transfer the

Hist. lib. i. fol. 128 b. (Quoted by his Ecclesiastical History of Ireland
Ussher, fVorks, vi. p. 2 1 2). (vol. i . p. 201) has put this difficulty

» IVithin a year. Dr. Lanigan in very strongly.

304 The Churches in WlckJow. [chap. i.

guilt of the martyrdom to the Scots or Picts of
North Britain.

It was probably with a view to meet the
objection from the shortness of the time that
some writers have attributed the foundation of
the churches in Wicklow to the disciples of Pal-
ladius rather than to Palladius himself. But this
part of his history presents less difficulty, and is
more easily reconciled with the short time al-
lotted to his ministry in Ireland, than the account
of his actions in Scotland. He was sent to the
Irish Scoti, who were already believers in Christ.
Although the pagan natives of the country re-
jected him, these Christian Scoti would necessarily
receive him with joy. It would take no great
length of time to form them into regular
churches. The material fabrics were probably
of wood;^ and he left behind him experienced
clergy to complete and perpetuate the ecclesias-
tical organisation of the congregations. The
later collections of biographical legends could
scarcely have named these churches if they had
not continued to exist in their times, and if
popular tradition had not attributed their founda-
tion to the mission of Palladius.

^ H^ood. So the Four Masters ex- speaking of the Church built hj St.
pres.sly tell us, a.d. 430. Joceline Aidan m Lindisfaniey says that it
makes the same statement, cap. 25. was ' more Scotoruniy non delapide,
7r. TA., p. 70. Wooden churches sed de robore secto/ iii. 15. But we
were usual In Ireland down to the must not infer that thrre were no
beginning of the twelfth century. St. stone churches in Ireland^ for the re-
Malachy's design of building a stone mains of many of very gremt and-

t. SttLifitrfSt.

J. O'Hanlon, p.

oratory at Bangor was resisted as a auitv are still extant. See Life rfSt,
novelty \ 'Scoti sumus non Galli/ malacky^ by Rer.

were the words used by his opponent, 146 sq.
as St. Bernard tells us. And Bede,

CHAP. I.] Palladtus called also Patrick. 305

The fact recorded by Tirechan, that Palladius Paiudiw
was also called Patrick, is of great importance. Patrick.
It may have been the cause of much of the con-
fusion. There is no difficulty or improbability
in the fact itself. Palladius may have been the
name of his family, and Patricius his baptismal
name^ or a title given him from his rank. It is
remarkable, how^ever, that on the sixteenth of
March, the day before the Irish St. Patrick's day,wre
have in the Roman Martyrology the name of a
Patrick, bishop, w^ho vsras commemorated at Ar-
verni, or Clermont, the very country to which, commemo-
as we have seen, there is reason to think Palla- ci^ont
dius belonged. The words are, ' Arvernis depo-
sitio S. Patricii episcopi.' It is not said that he
was bishop of Auvergne, but only that his depo^
sitioj that is to say, his death, was on that day
commemorated there. Baronius, therefore, need
not have expressed surprise^ at being unable to
find his name among the bishops of Clermont.
If he was the Palladius or Patricius who was first
bishop of the Scots, and whose family was in high
reputation in Auvergne, there is no difficulty in
supposing that his deposit to may have been re-
corded in the Calendar of Clermont.

If this be so, it is probable that Palladius died coincidence

of his day
with that of
* Name. Patricius was a name in * assumed the illustrious name of Pa- St Patrick,
common use at that time, as also Pa- tricius, which, by the conversion of
tricia for a female. We are not under Ireland, has been communicated to a
the necessity of supposing it to be a whole nation/
title indicatmg Patrician rank. Gib- ^ Surprise. * Miratus sum hunc

bon (Decline and Fally viii. p. 300, non recenseri in tabulis Democharis
ed. Milman and Smith) says, 'The inter episcopos Anremenses/ Not.ad
meanest subjects of the Roman em- MartyroL Rom, in loco,
pire ' [at the close of the 5th century]

3o6

Great Number of Patricks [chaf, i.

Great

number of
Patricks a
cause of
confusion.

on the i6th of March, and by a curious coinci-
dence the 17th of March was afterwards dedi-
cated to the memory of the more celebrated St.
Patrick. To this coincidence there may be
allusion in the following lines which occur in
the Hymn of St. Fiacc : —

Intan conhualai Patraic adella in Patraic naOe
Ismalle connubcabsat dochum n-Isu meicc Maire.

which may be thus translated.

When Patrick died * he went to the other Patrick,
And both ascended together to Jesus, Son of Mary.

In other words, Patrick after his death went in
the Calendar to the day next after the festival of
the other Patrick ; the other Patrick met him, on
the day after his own festival, and both ascended
together to heaven.^

The great number of Patricks who are men-
tioned in this period of Irish history is a source

* Died. Lit. * was wailed for.'

* To heaven, A curious anecdote,
which may illustrate thb, is told in
the Life of St. Gertrude, abbess of
Nivelles in Brabant, who died on
Sunday 18 March (the day after St.
PatricK*s day), a.d. 658. Feeling
her end approaching she sent a friar
to an Irisn monk named Ultan, who
was then at the neighbouring mon-
astery of Fossae. * Go,' she said, « to
the pilgrim Ultan, and say to him.
The Virgin Gertrude hath sent me
to ask thee on what day she shall de-
part this life, for she says that she
feareth greatly, although at the same
time she rcjoiceth.* The friar deli-
vered the message, and Ultan an-
swered, 'This is the i6th of the
Kalends of April : and to-morrow,
during the solemnities of Mass, that
handmaiden of God and virgin of

Christ, Gertnidcy shall deput from
the body. Tell her to fear not, nor
be troubled at her decease, for bks-
sed Patrick the bishop, with the elect
angels of God, are r^dv to receive
her with great ^lory.* Actt. S5, mrd,
S, Bened. torn. li. p. 447. Here the
idea seems to have been that Purick,
on the morning after his Fcstiinlt
came down with the angels to ac-
company the soul of St. Cmtnide to
heaven. In Fiacc's Hymn Patrick^s
soul is represented as soing to the
other Patnck, or Palladnis, who had
come to meet him, on the 6*f after
his festival, and iMth ascenckd to-
cher to heaven. Hie Ultan men-
tioned in this story is not St. Ultan
of Ardbraccan (see p. fttt>, but
another Ultan (whose festival is May
1), brother of SS. Faolan and Funa.
See CaleiuUur ^ Dmuged^ p. 117.

CHAP. I.] in Irish Church History. 307

of much embarrassment. The author of the
Tripartite Life tells the following childish story ^ :

* Once upon a time, when St. Patrick was in the Tyrrhene
[Mediterranean ?] Sea, he came to a place in which there were
three other Patricks. They were in a solitary cave, between
a mountain and the sea, and he asked their permission to remain
with them. They answered that they would not permit this
unless he would consent to draw water from an adjacent foun-
tain, for there was in that place a beast which did much injury
to men. Patrick, however, consented, and went to the fountain ;
and the beast seeing him, gave signs of joy, by his gestures, and
became to him quite tame and gentle. After this Patrick drew
the water, and brought it home with blessing,' &c.

Colgan^ suggests that one of these Patricks
may have been Patrick of Auvergne, and another,
Patrick of Nola^, whose feast is on the 17th of
March. But it is absurd to treat such a fable as
history. It can only prove, if indeed it proves so
much, that the nameof Patrick was then common;
and this certainly seems to have been the case.
There is said to have been a Patrick junior, a sup-
posed nephew of the great saint, to whom Colgan
attributes the authorship of the Life which he has
placed second in his collection. And there was
also an older Patrick, called Sen-Patrick, or Senior
Patrick, of whom we shall say more presently.

Henry of Sal trey, in his History* of the cele- Paiiadiut
brated Purgatory^ of St. Patrick in Lough Derg, ^e'lUc^of

Patrick to a
late period.

^ ^ . . ^ • * uuiiaucu uj v^uiKUl.

Colgan, Tr, fh.y p. 122. ib. p. 274.

Story, Septima vita, lib. i. c. 34, * FSstory, Published by Colgan^
ran, Tr, Th.y p. 122. ib. p. 274.

Colgan, Ibid. p. 171, not. 16. * Purgatory, It should be borne

Patrick of Sola, Mentioned in in mind that this 'Purgatory' had
Catal. SS. Italiac of Ferrarius. nothing to do with the rurgatoiy of
But Ughelli supposes him to be the a future life, a mistake into which

Irish St. Patrick. Bolland, Actt, SS. Harris seems to have fallen, Bishops^
Martii, torn. ii. p. 506. p. 25. It vwa a cave or series or

X 2

3o8 Palladtus known as a Patrick. [chap. i.

attributes that institution to * the Great Patrick
the second from the first' — Magnus Sanctus
Patricius qui a primo est secundus — the first
being evidently the Patrick who is more gene-
rally known by the name of Palladius. The
story of the Purgatory was not invented until the
beginning of the twelfth century. This allusion
to the first Patrick is therefore evidence that the
memory of the Palladian Patrick was preserved
under that name to a late period ; and another
opinion, mentioned in the Polychronicon^ of
Ralph of Chester, which attributes the institu-
tion of the Purgatory to an abbot Patrick, who
lived about 850, and who quitted Ireland * be-
cause he was unable to convert the Irish,' is
apparently a transfer of a part of the story of
Palladius Patricius to a different Patricius of a
much later age.
Sih^w ''^ It appears then that Palladius continued to be
««n«^««<* known in Ireland by the name of Patrick

to St. Pa- . , •'

trick. until about the period of the English inva-
sion. It was natural that some confusion
should arise from this circumstance, and it will
assist very materially to clear up the difficuldes
and contradictions in the early history of Patrick
the Apostle, if we can disentangle* from the story

caves, in which living pilgrinu were sag^e, however, is of matimpoctaiicr,

made to do penance, to atone for the as tending to show that the ictt of at

sins of their previous life. least two distinguished preachcn in

> Polychrotticon. Quoted by Us- Ireland may have been bknded to-

sher*s Primord. p. 896. g^hcr, and thus furnishing a suffi-

' DisentangU. This observation cient explanation of the apparent

has been made by Dr. Petrie : having chronological and other coo^adk-

quoted a passage from the book of tions in which the lives of our Saint

Lecan, this author says, < The pas- abound.' Essajf wT^ra HUl.CTnm,

CHAP. I.] Prosper knew of hut one Bishop. 309

of his early life, those particulars which belong
in reality to the Palladian Patrick.

The words of Prosper that Pope Celestine Piwper
made ^ the barbarous island Christian/ by nomi- nodung of
nating a bishop for the Scots, have sometimes £trfS°*
been interpreted as a too sanguine anticipation
of the success of Palladius. But their meaning
is probably no more than this, that by the formal
nomination of a bishop for them, the Scots
credentes in Cbristo were recognised as a Chris-
tian nation- Be this, however, as it may, it
seems evident that Prosper can have had no
knowledge of more than one bishop sent by
Celestine to the Scots. If he had known of the
second Patricius, the fact would have greatly
strengthened his argument, and could scarcely
have been omitted by him ; and if Pope Celes-
tine, immediately before his death, had consecrated
a second bishop for Ireland, it is almost impos-*
sible that Prosper could have been ignorant of it.

R.Irish Acad. vol. xviii.p. 9%), The from a penual of the Book of Ar-

same view has also been ably deve- magh» Uiat the acta of two difierent

loped by the late Hon. A. Herberty missionaries were, as he states, *so

in an Essay called PalUutius Restitu- jumbled together as to render it im-

/tt/, published in the Brit, Mag. 1 844. possible to separate them/ But his

This very learned and acute writer, teaming was defective, and he drew

however, was strongly prejudiced the singular conclusion that one of

against the history ot St. Patrick, these misuonaries lived at a mvch

which he believed to be a forgery of earlier period than that usually as-

the Columban age. He had never sis;ned to St. Patrick, and that the

seen Dr. Reeves's edition of Adam- o&er was Palladius, who was iden-

nan, which was not published until tical with the Patrick who is now

after his death, and he was ignorant venerated as the apostle of Irehnd.

also (as he admits) of the writinp Mr. Herbert has ably enoted the

of Dr. Lanigan. The Irish unpub- absurditjr of this theory in bis * Ani-

lishcd authorities were of course madversions upon the Bethamian St.

wholly unknown to him. Sir Wm. Patrick.' ErttUk Magmchu^ mot.

Betham {Irish Antiq, ResearckiSt p. (1843), p. 59^.
266} appears to have also inferred

310 The Roman Mission Ignored [chaf. i.

But his words are express, ' ordinate Scotis epis-
copo,' by the ordination of a bishop for the
Scots, the barbarous island was made Christian.
Why did he not say by ordaining two bishops,
for the Scots, if he had known that two had
been ordained ? The suspicion therefore arises
that the Roman mission^ of the second Patrick,
and most probably also his continental travels
and his connexion with St. Germain of Auxerre,
are facts in his biography which belong in reality
to the history of Palladius.
TheRoman This suspiciou is strougly confirmed by other
st!patrick considerations. The autobiography, first pub-
tiMiS*iniiii lished by Sir James Ware, under the name of
confcnion. ^ 'pj^^ Coufessiou of Patrick,* contains not a
word of a mission from Pope Celestine. Of this
curious tract we shall have occasion to speak
more at length presently. It must suffice to
observe here, that one object of the writer was to
defend himself from the charge of presumption
in having undertaken such a work as the con-
version of the Irish, rude and unlearned as he
was. Had he received a regular commission
from the see of Rome, that fact alone would
have been an unanswerable reply. But he
makes no mention of Pope Celestine, or of
Rome, and rests his defence altogether on the
Divine call which he believed himself to have
received for the work. He fully admits his

' Romam mission, Tillemont, ' et je croy que sur celm ceul il etf

speaking of the short period between impossible de croire que S. Pitrice a

tne mission of Palladius and the este ordonn^ par S. telesdn.* M^-

death of Pope Celestine, observes : moires, Hist, Ec€L torn. xri. p. 714.

CHAP. I.] in the Writings of St. Patrick. 31 1

want of education, his rudeness, and ignorance
of languages. He says^ : —

' Wherefore, I thought of writing long ago, but hesitated
until now, for I was afraid of falling upon the language of men
[i.e. I was afraid of attempting to write in the language of the
civilized world], because I have not read like others who have
been well imbued with sacred learning, and have never changed
their studies from infancy, but have added more and more to
perfection ; for my speech and language has been changed to
another tongue.'

It is not possible that an ecclesiastic, who had Nor hit
been regularly educated in the schools of St. Ger- ticai Educa-
main and St. Martin, could have thus spoken of Sn^enJ
himself, and nevertheless it is thus that he speaks of
himself throughout the whole of the * Confession.*
The same remark may be made also on *the
Epistle to Coroticus,' or ' to the Christian Sub-
jects of Coroticus,' as some copies^ call it. It
makes no allusion to a mission from Rome, or to
the foreign education of the author. He speaks
of himself throughout as unlearned, ' indoctus,'
and alludes to his want of skill or knowledge
' imperitia mea.' The rude Latinity® of this
tract, as well as of the Confessio, is confirmatory of

* Says. * Quapropter ollim cogit- title of * Epistola ad Christianos

avi scnbere, sed et usque nunc hcssi- Corotici tyranni subditos/ {Actt, SS,

tavi : timui enim ne incedercm in 1 7 March) : by Dr. Villanueva, from

linguam hominum : quia non dedici, the Bollandists, * S, Patricii Sjnodi

sicut catteri, qui optime itaque jure et optucuia, p. 240, and by Dr.

et sacras literas utroque pari modo O' Conor, lUr. Hib, Scriptt. i., Pro-

jure conbiberunt, et sermones eo- leg. i. 117, from the Cotton MS.
rum ex infantia nunquam motanint, ^ Rude Latimty. BoUandus sug-

&c.' Lib. Ardmach. fol. 22, b. a. gcsts that St. Patrick, by his long

^ Copies. It was first published residence among the barbarian Irish,

by Sir James Ware, from the Cotton may have lost the purity of the Latin

MS. (ppusc. S. Pair. p. 24), under tongue, which he nad learned in his

the title of * S. Patricii ad Coroticum youth. Comm» prce<v, ad Fit, S. Patr.

epistola :' then by the Bollandists, sect. 3.
from a MS. at Treves, under the

3 1 2 The Hymns of Secbnall and Fiacc [chap, i.

the author's defective education, and a collateral
evidence of the authenticity of both. Whether
genuine or not, these documents were written
before the Roman mission from Pope Celestine,
and the connexion with St. Germain had been
transferred from the acts of Palladius to the
second Patrick.
The Hymn The Hvmn of St. Sechnall, or Secundinus, in

of St. •

Sechnall u praisc of St. Patrick, is supposed to have been
written during his lifetime^ and contains nothing
which can be deemed very inconsistent with that
opinion. The author is said to have been the
disciple of Patrick, his nephew, the son of
his sister, and his successor, or rather a contem-
poraneous bishop with him, in the sec of
Armagh. But this hymn, although its object
was to celebrate the praises of St. Patrick, makes
no mention of his mission from Rome, or of his
ecclesiastical education on the continent. His
apostleship and call to teach barbarous nations
is expressly derived from God Himself, without
any mention of a commission from Pope Celes-
tine. He is described* as ^ constant in the fear
of God, immoveable in faith, one upon whom
as a second Peter the Church is built, who
obtained from God the apostleship of the Church,
to the injury of which Church the gates of
hell prevail not. The Lord chose him to teach
barbarous nations, and to fish with the nets of
doctrine,* &c.

> l^fttime. See Book ofHjmm of Archaeoloe. ind Celtic Soc.) p. ft.
thi Irish Churchy (publ. by the Irish « Descnbed. IW. p. ii.

CHAP. I.] ignore the Roman Mission. 313

* Constans in Dei timore et fide immobilis
Super quern aedificatur ut Petrus ecclesia,
Cuj usque apostolatum a Deo sortitus est,
In cujus portse adversus * infemi non prevalent.
Dominus iUum elegit ut doceret barbaros
Nationes, ut piscaret per doctrinse retia,* &c.

It is very unlikely that St. Patrick*s mission from
the see of Rome would have been omitted in this
description of his apostleship, if it had been
known to the writer.

The Hymn of St. Fiacc is purely biographical. The Hymn
The author, who was bishop of Sletty,^ is said to "Mientag
have been a disciple and contemporary of Patrick, from Rome
But it is impossible for many reasons to attribute
to the Hymn so high an antiquity. It contains
an allusion to the desolation of Tara,^ and con-
sequently must have been written after the mid-
dle of the sixth century. The object of the
writer was to record the principal events of St.
Patrick's life. Nevertheless there occurs in this
work no allusion to the Roman mission of St.
Patrick. He is said to have undertaken the con-
version of the Irish, in consequence of the admoni-
tion of an angel, and of a vision in which he seemed
to himself to hear the voices of the youths of Ire-
land from the wood of Fochlut^ like the man of
Macedonia^ in the history of St. Paul, calling upon
him to come and help them. There is not a word
of a commission from Pope Celestine.

^ Adfversus. This word must spoken by the Spirit of Prophecy.

here be taken as a substantive in the TnW. Thaum, p. 4.
accusative plural. * FocMut, In the district of Hy

* Sletty. See above, Introd. p. 14. Fiachrach, county of Mayo. See

Irish Book of Hymns, p. 287. O'Donovan, Tribes and Customs of

' Tara. Colgan meets this diffi- Hy Fiachrach^ p. 463 n.
culty by supposing St. Fiacc to have * Macedonia, Acts xvi. 9.

3H

Silence as to the

[chap. I.

fivt men-
tions hit ec-
clesiastical
cdocation
«Bder St
Oeraiain*

The Life of
St. Patrick
in the Book
of Armagh
Ignores
the Roman

This Hymn, however, contains an express
statement^ that Patrick had studied ' the canons '
under St, Germain, and alludes distinctly to his
travels across all the Alps, his living, with St,
Germain, ' in the south of Italy,' and his sojourn
among the islands of the Torrian, or Tyrrcne sea,
meaning perhaps the Mediterranean. It is evident,
therefore, that this part of the history of Palladius
had begun to be transferred to the second Patricius
in the interval between the publication of the for-
mer works, and the composition of St. Fiacc's
Hymn. But it is a fact of great significance that in
none of the extant writings, possessing the smallest
claim to be considered contemporary with St.
Patrick, is his mission from Rome so much as
alluded to; whilst the writings attributed to
Patrick himself equally ignore his ecclesiastical
education under St. Germain, and represent him
as lamenting his rudeness, his rusticity, and his
ignorance of the learned languages.

The antient Life^ preserved in the Book of

• Express statement, Colean^ 7r.
TA., p. I . 'He went across aul Alps,
beyond the sea, happy was the jour-
ney. He remainra with Germain,
southwards in the south of Leatha.
He dwelt in the isles of the Torrian
Sea, as I record : He read the Canons
with Germain, as histories relate.*
Here Leatha probably means La-
tium or Italy, not Letavia or Armo-
rica ; if so the author has fallen into
the geographical error of placing the
see of St. Germain in Italy. There
can be but little doubt that these
facts, for which the author quotes
* histories,* are a part of the lost or
suppressed history of Palladius.

"^ TAi OMtiemt life. Dr. Petrie is of

opinion, following UaBher, thit the
summary of chapters of the Lift of
Patrick, fol. ao a, of the Book of
Armagh, belong to the fint book
of this antient hfe, haTing been mit-

f laced by the error of the trmntcriber.
f so, the following note, which oecun
at the end of this summary, makes
known to us the name of the com*
piler of this antient coUectioQ of
traditions. 'Haec pauca de Sancti
Patricii peritia et virtutibus Mmirckm
MtirrirMuiri/Afsn,dictante Aiduo Sleb-
tiensis civitatis episcopo, conscripttt.*
Aedh, bishop of Sletty, is probably
the anchorite who died 698 (tmarM.)^
so that Macadkemtu^ as Ussher erro-
neously calls him, must hare written

CHAP. I.] Roman Mission of St. Patrick. 315

Armagh unfortunately wants the first leaf. We
cannot, therefore, say with absolute certainty that
it did not contain a notice of St. Patrick's mis-
sion from Celestine. But the story told in what
still remains of this venerable record is scarcely
consistent with such a notice. It represents
Patrick as having seen an angelic vision, in which
the same angel who had frequently before ap-
peared to him, when he was a captive in Ireland,
was again seen by him. The angel announced
that the time was come when he was to go forth
to fish^ with evangelic net, amid the fierce and
barbarous nations whom God had sent him to
teach ; and that the sons and daughters of the
wood of Fochlut were calling for him to come
and save them. He was then apparently in
France^, with St. Germain, and immediately set
out ^ to the work for which he was before pre-

about the close of the seventh century, 1 1 1 . The coraplaintsof Maccumach-

and of course collected legends of a theni, as to the great uncertainty of

much older date. The summary of St. the facts of St. Patrick's liitc, quoted

Patrick's life, which is ascribed to by Dr. Petrie, are worthy of consi-

him, does not alto^ther agree with deration, and will be noticed here-

the Life with which the book of after.

Armagh begins, but the conjecture ^ To fish. In this expression we

that Maccumachtheni was the com- recognise the lines just Quoted ftom

piler of that life, is nevertheless the Hymn of St. Sechnall, which the

probably true ; and it is Quite clear author of this Life must therefore

that the summary distinctly ignores have had before him. : — ' uisitauit

the Roman mission of St. Patrick. It [angelus] dicens ei addesse tempus

states that St. Patrick desired to visit ut ueniret et amanguelico rctc natio-

the Apostolic See and there to learn nes feras et barbaras ad quas docen-

wisdom,but that meeting with St.Ger- das misserat ilium Deus ut piscaret ;

main in Gaul, he luent no further, ibique ei dictum est in uissione uo-

Two of the headings of consecutive cant te filii et filiae silvae Fociite, etc.'

sections are as follow ; — < De etate Lib, Ardm, fol. %, a. a.

ejus quando iens videre sedem apos- * In France, So Probus (i. ii, 22)

tolicam voluit discere sapientiam. — understands the antient life, adopt-

De inventione sancti Germani in ing its words, althouffh not with-

Galliis, et ideo non exivit ultra,' out interpolations. cSgOHf Tr, Th,,

See Petrie On Tar a Hill, pp. 109 — p. 48.

3x6 The Gallican Mission [chaf. i.

pared, namely, the work of the Gospel.' St.
Germain sent with him an aged priest named
ScgetiusS to be a witness and companion of his
labours, because Germain had not yet raised
Patrick to the Pontifical order, inasmuch as* it
was certain that Palladius had been already or-
dained and sent by Pope Celestine to convert the
Irish.
He is not Hcrc it is uot Said that Germanus sent Patrick
been lent to to Cclcstine, although this is what the later
c^itttine. biographers^ have made this passage say. On
the contrary, the narrative expressly asserts that
Patrick went forth to the work ' for which he
had been prepared,' not being at the time a
bishop ; and that Segetius, an aged presbyter,
was sent with him by St. Germain as his com-
panion and adviser in his mission. In short, he
Commit- ^s represented to have received his commission as
^^^y^'- a missionary priest from St. Germain, and he had
actually set out for the scene of his future labours
when the news of the death of Palladius reached
him. Augustine and Benedict, the disciples of

' Segetius, The name is written Patrick had not been prerioiuly

Segestius, Segitius, Segerus, Serge- consecrated a bishop, and Probus

cius. Heric of Auxerre, {Mhracula (i. 24) paraphrases it dius, *Neodiini

S. Germanif c. 2) savs, ' ineptumque tamen vir Domini Pfttricius ad poo-

ducens [Germanus] robustissimum tificalem gradum fiient proowtiis:

agricolam in Dominicae segeth tor- quod ideo nimirum distuierat, apia

perc cultura ad S. Caelestinum . . . sciebat quod Palladius, &c/ Tr.n.,

per Segetium presbyterum suum eum p. 48. Compare this with the ori-

direxit/ Bolland. Actt. SS. Julii ginal, * Quia nee adhuc a suicto

vii. p. 259 B. This play upon the domino Germano in pontificmli giada

word proves that Heric read Segetius. ordinatus e^ \ certe enim erat quod

* Imasmtuh as. Here follows the Palladius, &c.* Bmk ^ Jbrm^k^

passage already quoted above, p. 288, fol. 2, a. a.

and here we sec the force of the word • Later hitgyed^grs. Sec Vit. Trip.

riwiw, with which that passage be- i. c. 35. (7r. Ti., p. laa).
gins. It gives the reason why

CHAP. I.] and Consecration of St. Patrick. 317

Palladius, on their return home, met Patrick at
Ebmoria, and communicated to him the news of
their master's death. Patrick^ then, with those
who were with him, went a little out of their
way — ' declinaverunt iter ' — to a wondrous man,
and chief bishop, Amathorex (or, as he is called
in the same paragraph, Mathorex), who dwelt in
a neighbouring place, and there Patrick was con-
secrated a bishop. His companions Auxilius,
Iserninus, and some others of inferior rank, were
ordained the same day.

There is here no mention of Pope Celestine, st Patrick

r . . ^ — . . - consecrated

or ot a mission from Rome ; nor is there any byAmato-
difficulty in the story, considered as the genuine I^nbithop.
history of Patrick, and not of Palladius, except
for the name of his consecrator. The Scholiast
on Fiacc's Hymn says expressly that Amatorex was
bishop of Auxerre, confounding him most proba-
bly with St. Amator, the predecessor of St. Ger-
main in that see. But Amator^ of Auxerre died
A.D. 418, and therefore could not have been the
consecrator of St. Patrick, in 431, or 43^.

The bishop Amatorex is not spoken of as re-

* Patrick. * Patricius, et qui cum tion rex, or rix, has sadly puzzled

eo erant, declinauerunt iter ad quen- transcribers. Thus the Tripartite

dam mirabilem hominem summum Life tells us that Patrick was conse-

aepiscopum Amathorege nomine, in crated by Pope Celestine in presence

propinquo loco habitantem ; ibique of S. Germain and Amatus King of

Sanctus Patricius, sciens quae euen- the Romans, (i. 39) : and Nennius

tura erant, ibi episcopalem gradum mixes up the two statements, that St.

ab Mathorege sancto episcopo acce- Germain sent Patrick with Segetius to

pit. Etiam Auxilius, Iserninusque Amatheus /^ /Tiir^ ; * ad Amatheum

et caeteri inferioris gradus eodem die Regem in propinquo habitantem,*

quo sanctus Patricius ordinati sunt.' and also that ne was consecrated a

Lib. Ardmach, fol. 2. a. b. bishop * bv Matheus the ISng, and by

^ Amator, See Colgan, 7r. T^., a holy bishop," cap. 55.
p. 9. not. 34. The Gaulic termina-

3i8 St. FatrlcKs alleged [chaf. i.

siding in his see, but as dwelling, probably as an
accidental sojourner, in a place near Ebmoria,
wherever that was ; and the language implies that
Patrick was consecrated by a single bishop only.
It was not unusual at that time that a bishop
should be without a see, and the incursions of
the Goths, with other political troubles of the
day, may sufficiently account, even without
reference to any such custom, for a bishop being
found in retirement or concealment in an obscure
village. The story, therefore, is not discredited
by our being unable satisfactorily to identify the
bishop Mathorex or Amathorex^ with any Gal-
lican bishop whose name is now known in his-
tory.
Said to have Thc SchoHast ou Fiacc's Hymn tells us that
paniedSL St. PatHck accompauicd St. Germain to Great
to Britain. Bntam m 429 to suppress the Pelagian heresy.
If this have any real foundation in fact* it is more
likely to have been true of Palladius than of the
second Patrick. It would be natural that Ger-
main should have taken with him^ his archdea*
con, who had so recently procured at Rome the
Papal authority for the British mission. This,

^ Amathorex, Lanigan suggests (a writer of the ninth centunr)» m lut

Amandus of Bordeaux, vol. i. p. 200, prose life, or Mhrmcwlm S. Girmmdf

but this is only conjecture. Our speaks of one Mkk$meris who had

lists of the Gallican bishops of the followed Geimain from IiehuMi, * ^

time are so imperfect that we can sanctum Tinim (Germanum h^ de

neither wonder at the difficulty nor Hibemia fiicfat proaecutut.* Time

expect very easily to remove it. words have been made to in

^ In fact. See 7r. T^, p. 5, note thatSt.GeimainhadbeenmlrelaBdv

10 K. And see Colgan*s remarks, but without probability | tee die Bol-

ib. p. 96, not. 24. Comp. Lanigan, landist father Boich, Gmmi.^

u 180. S, Gtrmmm, num. 74^ {AM. SS,

* ffltA him, Heric of Auxerre torn. vii. p. aoo) HeriCt MhrmtuiM^

CHAF. I.] Connexion with St. Gtrmatn.

S^9

however, is certain, that the chronology of St. st.pi<rick'i
Germain's life is plainly inconsistent with the ftnayiBpot-
statement, that St. Patrick continued studying
theology under that prelate's superintendence
for a period of thirty years.^ Although origin-
ally intended for the law, and having received
a legal education at Rome, St. Germain was
an officer in the army up to the very day on
which he was ordained.* It was therefore im-
possible that Patrick could have been his disciple
prior to that event, which took place in 418, the
year of St. Amator's death.

num. 7 ^p. 256 ibid.), and the re-
marlLs of Papcbroch, at April 30,
p. 776.

• *Thxrty ytars. Sec Colgan*s ela-
borate note on this difficulty, Tr, TM,
p. 30, not. 18. He supposes that
ritrick went first to St. Germain, in
the south of Italy, Germain being
then a secular man. This he says
was A.D. 395, when St. Patrick was
twenty-three years of age, and St.
Germain was studying law at Rome.
St. Gemrain nuy have then assisted
him in his studies, as St. Fiacc inti-
mates : num. 5. In 398 or 399, Pa-
trick went to St. Martin of Tours,
with whom he remained four years,
or to about 4X)a or 403 ; he then went
to Rome, where he met St. Kieran
of Scir- Kieran (^ee above p. 100,)
exaurtly thirty years before his mission
to IrclaxKi by Pope Celevtine. In
404 he went to the Hermits with the
naked feet — spent with them eight
yean (Probun, i. 15). This brings
us to 41a, in which year he went
to the island of the Tyrrhene Sea,
where he had the adventure with the
beast, the guardian of the fountain,
there he remained nine years, (ib. i.
1 6), or rathcr^ieven ( f 1/. 7ir»^. i.e. 34).
Sf. Germain was then Bishop, and
St. Patrick continued with him from

thenceforth to the time when Celct-
tine sent him to Ireland. So that
the thirty years of Patrick*! study-
ing with Germain is to be counted
from A.D. 395 or thereabouti, al-
though some nineteen or twenty yean
of that time were spent with St.
Martin, and in the islands of the
Mediterranean, and not with St.
Germain. It is erident from this
how insuperable are the difficulties of
any attempt to reconcile the inteipo-
lated lives with the hct% of history.
Colgan assumes throughout that St.
Martin died in 401 or 403, Ussher,
/«</. Ckrpm. gives 40 1 as the date of St.
M art 'm*s death. Others sav 41 a. But
397, which is most e^neraily received,
would be wholly inconsistent with
the story of St. Patrick*s spending
four years under his instruction. Mm.
<ir7rr«wiur, A.D.i795, p. 1138, 1169.
' OrJaiiuJ. The circumstances
of his ordination are curious, and
prove that in the Gallican church of
the fifth century there were violm-
tions of ecclesiastical rules quite ts
^reat as those which have been ob-
jected to the primitive church of
Ireland. ' II n'y a rien de plus sur-
prcnnant,* says Tillemont, ' que cettc
vocation de S. Germain, ni qui p«-
roisse plus contimire aux r^ks de

3«o

The Roman Mission

[chap. !•

His con-
nexion with
St. Ger-
main trans-
ferred to
hun from
Palladiui.

We infer that the whole story of Patrick's con-
nexion with St. Germain and mission from Celes-
tine should be regarded as a fragment of the lost
history of Palladius, transferred to the second and
more celebrated Patrick, by those who undertook
to interpolate the authentic records of his Life.
The object of these interpolaters was evidently to
exalt their hero. They could not rest satisfied
with the simple and humble position in which
his own writings, his Confession, and his Letter
to Coroticus, had placed him. They could not
concede to Palladius the honour of a direct mis-
sion from Rome, without claiming for Patrick a
similar honour ; they could not be content that
their own Patrick should be regarded as an un-
learned, a rude, and uneducated man, even though

i*Eelise.^ Hirt. EccL torn. xv. p. lo.
In nis early^ life Germain had been
greatlv addicted to the pleasures of
the chase, and was in the habit of
hanging his trophies on an antient
tree, which was probably in some
way connected with the still remain-
ing paganism of the country. St.
Amator remonstrated in vain, and at
length, in the absence of Gennain,
had the tree cut down and burned.
Germain on his return home was
furious \ferocem is the term employed
by Constantius. He went so far as to
threaten the bishop's life, although
he was then himself by profession a
Christian. But the long-sighted
Amator discerned in him the seeds
of future eminence, and resolved
to secure for the Church the services
of so great a man. Finding his own
end approaching, he saw, or thought
he saw, a vision in which Germain
was divinely pointed out as his
successor in the see of Auxerre.
Germain was then an officer of the

state in some military capacitj. It
is difficult to avoid the su^idoQ that
he may have been privy to Amator**
design. The bishop, however, when
his measures fvere uken, asKmbled
the people in the CathedraL Ger-
main was there under arms, and mo-
bably with some of his soldiers The
bishop called upon all to lay aside
their arms, in reverence for the sacred
services of the place : and ordered
the ostiarii to close the doors of tibe
church. He then, surrounded hy a
band of ecclesiastics and nobles, laid
violent hands on Germain, and cal-
ling upon the name of the Loid, gaire
him the clerical tonsure and habit x
* glomerata secum turba ckricocum
atque nobilium, injiciens manus Ger-
manum apprehendit t ct invocato
nomine Domini, cxsariem ejus capiti
detrahens, habitu religionis, refcctis
sccularibus omamentis, cum promo-
tionis honore induit/ C^mtmmi, Fkm
S. Germam^ lib. i. c i. (^Acii. SS.
Junii. vii. p. ao3. A.)

as told by

Fiacc's

Scholiast.

CHAP. I.] true only of Palladius. 3^1

he had so described himself. The biography of
Palladius, ^ alio nomine Patricius/ supplied them
with the means of effecting their object, and
gave to the interpolated story the appearance of
antient support.

It will be desirable to make the reader ac-
quainted with some of the versions of the history
which have been given by these interpolaters : —

The Scholiast^ on Fiacc's Hymn, for example, story of the
who is probably one of the oldest of them, tells mu^^
us that ^ when St. Patrick had received the an- „ ^r^ "t^
gelic vision, calling him to go to Ireland, he
applied to St. Germain for advice. St. Germain
said to him, ^' Go to the successor of St. Peter,
namely, Celestine, that he may ordain thee, for
this office belongs to him." Patrick, therefore,
went to him ; but Celestine gave him no honor,
because he had already sent Palladius to Ireland.*
After this repulse, Patrick, says our author, went
away to the islands of the Mediterranean Sea,
received the Staff of Jesus in one of those islands,
and returned again to St. Germain, who sent
him a second time to the Pope, accompanied by
the presbyter Segetius. Celestine, by this time,
had heard of the death of Palladius, and no
longer made any difficulty in complying with
the request of St. Germain. Patrick was
therefore consecrated^ in presence of Pope Celes-
tine, and of Theodosius the emperor, by Ama-
torex, bishop of Auxerre. Celestine lived only a

* Scholiast, Colgan, Tr. Th,^ p. ^ Cotuecrated. * Tunc ordinatus est

5, not. 13 n. Patricius in conspectu Caelestini ct

Y

^ZZ Great Discrepancies in the [chaf. i.

week after the ordination of Patrick, who arrived
in Ireland the first year of Pope Sixtus, after
having received also the sanction of that pontiff,
together with some relics of Peter and Paul, and
many books.

In these last words it would seem that a
clause has been taken from the acts of Palladius,
and it is obvious also that the antient narrative
is the foundation of this story, interpolated so
far as was necessary to make way for the Roman
mission of St. Patrick. The interpolater, how-
ever, did not perceive how impossible it was that
all these transactions could have taken place in
the short time allotted to them, to say nothing
of the other chronological difficulties^ of his
narrative.
Diwrepan. Thc discrcpaucics of the later Lives in the
later biogra- cudcavour to iutroducc the Roman mission into
^ *"* the original story are still more instructive.
Narrative of Ouc biographcr* tells us that after spending
Tertia*.^ four ycars with St. Martin at Tours, and nine in
an island called Tamerensis, to which Martin
sent him, Patrick wished to visit Rome, as being
the head of all churches. St. Germain approved

Theodosii Junioris, Regis mundi. for piety and devotion is evidently

Amatorex Autissiodorensis episcopus the reason why he is made to luiTe

est qui eum ordinavit. £t Cxlestinus been present on this occasioQ, al-

non vixit nisi una septimana post- thougti there is no probability that

Quam ordinatus est Patricius, ut he was ever at Rome. If Amatom

ferunt. Sixtus vero ei successit, was bishop of Auxerre at this I

in cujus primo anno Patricius venit during the lifetime of St GcmuuD,

ad Hibcmiam : et ipse perhumaniter as this author *8 narrative implies,

tractavit Patricium, et dedit ipsi par- were there two coexisting btshops

tern reliquiarum Petri ct Pauh et there, or of what see was Gennaui

libros multos/ IbiJ. n. 140. bishop ?

* Difficulties. The character of « One bipgr^ker* Vita Tcitia,

the Eastern emperor Theodosius II. cap. as— 17. Tr, Tk.<, p. aa— 3.

CHAP, i] Accounts of the Roman Mission. 323

of this, and sent with him Segetius, as a wit-
ness, ' ut testem haberet idoneum.' Patrick on his
way to Rome met with a hermit, ^ dwelling in a
certain place,' who gave him the Staff of Jesus.
Then Patrick went out of his way, ' declinavit
iter,' to a certain wonderful man, a chief bishop,
named Amator, from whom he received the
degree of a bishop. He then went to Rome,
and was well received by Celestine. There he
heard the voice of an angel, commanding him
to go to Ireland. He refused, saying, ' I will
not go until I salute the Lord.' The angel
took him to Mount Arnon, on a rock in the
Tyrrhene Sea*, in a city called Capua. There
Patrick saluted the Lord, like Moses. Mean-
while, the news of the death of Palladius arrived,
and Celestine commanded Patrick to go to Ire-
land.

Another version^ of the story is this : Patrick Namitiveof
receives the angelic vision whilst with Germain, Q^aruT
who sends him forth, with Segetius, not having
as yet consecrated him a bishop, in consequence
of the previous mission of Palladius. But upon
the news of this missionary's death, St. Germain
sends Patrick to Rome for the apostolic licence.
Patrick sails through the Tyrrhene Sea, receives
the Staff of Jesus ' from a certain youth -in a
certain island who had given a lodging to Christ.'

* Tyrrhene Sea. The author gives words signify « on the sea of Letha,'

the name of this sea first in Irish and or Latium. Ibid. p. 23, cap. 25.
then in Latin, * Ar mutr Lethe^ supra ' Another ^version. Vita Quarta,

petram maris Tyrreni/ The Irish c. 27, sq. Ihid. p. 38.

Y 2

3^4 Narratives of St. Patrick's [chap. i.

Patrick spake with the Lord on the mount, who
commanded him to go to Ireland. He then
goes to Rome, is well received by Pope Celestine,
who gives him the relics of saints and sends him
to Ireland. Nothing is said in this narrative of
his ordination ; but the author, after stating that
Patrick, on receiving the apostolic licence, set
out for Ireland, inserts into his history, out of
its regular order, the story told in the Book of
Armagh, that Augustine and Benedict met him
in Euboria, told him of the death of Palladius ;
and Patrick then went out of his way to the
holy and venerable bishop named Amatorex, by
whom he was consecrated.

Here we have the strongest evidence of inter-
polation. The writer had before him two diffe-
rent and inconsistent documents, which he
incorporated into his narrative, without per-
ceiving their inconsistency.

The story as told by Probus^ is still more
Prob"**^ complicated. After spending four years with
St. Martin, who gave him the clerical tonsure,
an angel commanded Patrick to pass some
time with ' the people of God,' that is, as our
author explains it, with the hermits and solitaries
who were barefoot — ^ eremitas et solitarios nudis
pcdibus.' Patrick remained with these hermits
eight years. The angel appeared to him again,
and commanded him to go to some islanders,
who dwelt in an island ' between the mountains
and the sea.' Here he remained nine years, and

' Probus. Lib. i. c. 14 m|. Ibid, p. 48.

The version
of the story

CHAP. I.] Travels on the Continent. 325

here occurred his adventure with the beast
which guarded the fountain.^ The angel now
appeared the third time and said to him, ' Go to
St. Senior, a bishop, who is in Mount Hermon,
on the south side of the ocean, and his city is
fortified with seven walls.' Here Patrick was
ordained priest, and here he heard the voice of
the children^ in Ireland, calling him to come
and save them. The angel commanded him to
go to Ireland. Patrick refused, saying, ' I cannot
go, because bad men dwell there.' The angel
said, ^ Go.' Patrick said, ' I cannot, unless I see
the Lord.' Patrick then went forth with nine
men, and saw the Lord. The Lord said unto
him, ' Come unto my right hand.' Patrick went
to the Lord's right hand. The Lord said unto
him, * Go thou to Ireland, and preach therein
the word of eternal life.' Patrick answered, ^ I
ask of Thee three petitions — that the men of
Ireland be rich in gold and silver — ^that I may be
their patron — and that after this life I may sit on
Thy right hand in heaven.' The Lord said to
him, * Patrick, thou shalt have what thou hast
asked, and, moreover, whosoever shall com-
memorate^ thee by day or by night, shall not

* Fountain. See this story quoted recitation of the Hymn of Patrick,
from the Tripartite Life, p. 307, as Colgan observes. Ibid. p. 62,
supra. not. 20. Comp. Petrie, Tara ISU,

* Children. Here the miracle is p. 56. Book of HymnSf p. x% — 33. —
magnified in the true spirit of legen- The great quantity of gold and sil-
dary exaggeration : the children cried ver ornaments found in Ireland,
out from their mothers' womb. * Au- numerous specimens of which may
divit in visione voces puerorum de be seen in the Museum of the Royal
sinu et de ventre matrum, &c.' Irish Academy, may perhaps explain

' Commemorate. Alluding to the St. Patrick's hrst petition.

^z6 The Story told by Prohus. [chap. i.

perish everlastingly.' Patrick then went to Ire-
land, but the inhabitants refused to listen to him.
He, therefore, poured forth this prayer, * O
Lord Jesu Christ, who didst guide my path
through the Gauls and Italy unto these islands,
lead me, I beseech Thee, to the Holy See of the
Roman Church, that I may thence receive
authority to preach thy word with faithfulness,
and that the people of the Hibemi may by me
be made Christians.' He then set out for Rome,
and on his way spent some time with St. Ger-
main, in all obedience, charity, and chastity.
The angel now again admonished him that the
time was come when he should return to Ire-
land, to convert the fierce and barbarous inhabi-
tants to the faith of Christ. He therefore set
forth, and Germain sent with him Segetius, the
presbyter. Patrick^ had not yet been promoted
to the episcopal order, because Palladius had
been sent to convert the Irish. But when the
death of Palladius was communicated to him by
Augustine and Benedict at Euboria, Patrick and
his companions went out of their way to ' a man
of wondrous sanctity, a chief bishop^ named
Amator, dwelling in a neighbouring place,' and
by him St. Patrick was consecrated a bishop.
Then the venerable prelate, Patrick, quickly got
on board a ship, and proceeded to Britain^ from
whence with all speed, after a prosperous journey,

' Patrick. This part of the story have had the life riven in the Book

is told by our author in the very words of Armagh before nim, and therelbrr

of the Book of Armagh, with some must have deliberately inteipobted

little paraphrase. The author must the more antient story.

CHAP. I.] The Account given by Joceline. ^zy

^ he reached our sea in the name of the Holy
Trinity/

This narrative is curiously lame, and is fol-
lowed by two different and contradictory state-
ments : first, that he went to Rome and returned
with the apostolic benediction ; secondly, that
he was on his way to Rome when he heard of
the death of Palladius, and that then he received
consecration from Amator, in some part of Gaul,
but did not actually reach Rome. It is also
very remarkable that this differs from all other
versions of the story, in making St. Patrick to
have commenced his ministry in Ireland, without
the sanction of the Holy See, whilst still a
presbyter. A ray of truth has here broken out
through clouds of fable, and no greater proof
can be desired that the Roman mission was a
modern addition to the facts of history.

The story told by Joceline represents St. The story
Patrick, after his second captivity in Ireland, as jo^unJ
at home with his parents, that is to say, in Bri-
tain. There the angel appeared to him, and
there he heard the children of the Irish, from
their mothers' wombs, calling to him to come
and save them. Notwithstanding the opposition^
of his father and mother, who, according to this
author, were still alive (another story represents
them to have been murdered when he was taken

* opposition. « Utroque parente into the mouth of the angel, * ut
renitente.' That the author sup- patriam parentesque deserens Gal-
posed him to be in Great Britain is liam peteret, &c/ Sexta Fita, c. 21,
evident from the words which he puts 21. Tr. Th, p. 69.

3^8 Patrick's continental Adventures [chap. i.

captive some years before), Patrick placed himself
under the tuition of St. Germain, and afterwards
under that of St, Martin. But St. Martin was
commanded by an angel to go to the island Ta-
marensis^, and Patrick returned to St. Germain,
with whom he remained some days. St. Martin,
who in a former account is said to have given St.
Patrick the clerical tonsure only, is here repre-
sented as having given him the monastic habit
and rules. Patrick was tempted to break his rule
by a strong desire for flesh meat, but miracidously
overcame the temptation, and the flesh was con-
verted into fish. He then resolved to visit Rome.
St. Germain approved of his doing so and ap-
pointed Segetius to accompany him. On his
way he stopped at an island in the Tyrrhene Sea,
where he found a certain solitary, vv^ho gave him
the Staff of Jesus. In the same island he found
also some apparently young men, with others in
decrepit old age : upon enquiry he was told that
those who had retained their youth and vigour
were the fathers of the seemingly older men.
They had been in the habit of receiving in hos-
pitality every traveller who passed that way.
One night a pilgrim came with a staff in his
hand. He was received as usual with all kind-
ness. In the morning he announced himself to
be Jesus Christ, and left behind him the Sta£f,

' Tamarensu, The story told in that St. Martin himself went tbeiv»

the y^ita Tertia is that Patrick went leaving Patrick to return to St. Gef-

to the insula Tamarensis at the com- main,
mand of St. Martin. Here we read

with former
accounts.

CHAP. I.] as described by Joceline. g2g

desiring that it should be safely preserved, and
delivered to a certain pilgrim named Patrick^
who after a long time should come there. After
this Christ ascended into heaven. But the good
people of the island continued in the enjoyment
of youth : whilst their sons, who had not merited
the favour of such a miracle, grew old like other
men. Patrick then went to Rome, where he
was consecrated a bishop by Celestine himself,
and sent into Ireland to succeed Palladius.

Here it will be seen that our author cuts Discrepancy
away, without mercy, all that he found in the
older narratives about the bishop Amatorex, and
the consecration of Patrick before the Emperor
Theodosius. He felt, doubtless, that many diffi-
culties were obviated by making Pope Celestine
perform the ceremony himself. He adds that
after Patrick had been thus consecrated a bishop,
the angel appeared to him, and commanded him
to set out at once for Ireland. Patrick objected,
until he could first behold and salute the Lord.
The angel therefore transported him to Mount
Morion, near to the Tyrrhene Sea, by the city of
Capua, where, like Moses, he saw the Lord. In
the story as told by Probus, it was here that
Patrick was ordained priest, before he went forth
the first time, without a commission from Rome,
to Ireland.

^ Patrick. The author of this ri- Jesus, which was long preserved at

diculous story forgot to reconcile it Armagh and Dublin, and was pub-

vvith the antient Irish tradition that licly burned at the Reformation,

Patrick did not receive that name see Obits and MartyroU of Christ's

until he was commissioned by Celes- Churchy Introd. p. viii. sq.
tine. For the history of the Staff of

g^o His continental Adventures [chaf. i.

The ttory as Thc Tripartite Life, as it is translated by Col-

given in the *■ , ^

Tripartite gan, tells the story thus : Patrick was amongst
his relations after his third captivity. They
urged him strongly to give up all further mis-
sionary labours : but whenever he fell asleep, he
saw Ireland in vision, and heard the voices of the
youths in the wood Fochlut, calling upon him to
go and help them. He resolved, however, first
to visit Rome. He therefore passed the Iccian
Sea^ to France, and crossing the Alps to the south
of Italy, he found there^ St. Germain, with
whom he read the ecclesiastical canons, like
Paul at the feet of Gamaliel. After this^ he
went to Tours to St. Martin to receive the
monastic tonsure. Having overcome his tempta-
tion to eat flesh, which was miraculously con-
verted into fish, he went to the island Arelaten-
sis, where he pursued his ecclesiastical education
under St. Germain. He was thirty years old
when he came to St. Germain, and continued
thirty years under instruction with him. When
he was sixty^ years of age the angel Victor
appeared to him and commanded him to go to
Ireland : Patrick immediately resolved to visit
Rome, to obtain the apostolic authority for his
mission. Germain approved of this, and sent

> Thtu. Vita Septima, scu Tri- and St. Gennain continued in the

partita, i. c. 30 z^. secular state until 418. So that this

' Iccian Sea, i.e. the English chan- author's chronology is here as mudi

nel 'j see Irish Nennius, p. 31. at fault as his ]

« Found there. This is the same * Sixty, Here the XfS. of the

geographical error as to the situation original Irish in the British Museum

of Auxerre which occurs also in recommences after a gap of some

Fiacc*s hymn, see p. 314, note *. pages.

* After this, St. Martin died 41s,

CHAP. I.] as told in the Tripartite Life. gg i

with him Segetius, who was his own vicar in
spirituals. Patrick then with nine companions
embarked to cross the Tyrrhene Sea, and landed
on an island, in which he found what seemed a
new house. In it was a young married couple
and a decrepit old woman unable to walk, who
went about on all fours. The young man,
who was the master of the house, on being
asked, said that this aged woman was his
daughter's grand-daughter, and that her mother,
still more feeble and decrepit, was alive :
that Christ under the form^ of a pilgrim had
visited them, very many years before, with a staff
in His hand, and had left the staff, as in the
former story. St. Patrick refused to receive the
staff until it was given to him by the Lord
Jesus Himself. Having remained three days in
the island with these remarkable people, he went
to a mountain in the neighbourhood, called
Hermon, in which our Lord appeared to him
and commanded him to prepare himself for the
conversion of Ireland, giving him^ the Staff of
Jesus. On his arrival at Rome, Pope Celestine
received him with favour, and, when the death of
Palladius was announced, committed to him the

* Under the form. Here it would being more closely investigated. The

seem that Colgan has endeavoured aged people here are women ; in the

to lessen the absurdities of the ori- storyastoldbyjoceline they are men.

ginal } for the Irish text says that our * Giinng him. The Irish text

Lord had visited them dunng His so- here adds the three petitions of St.

joum amongst men, so that they had Patrick, as given before from Joceline.

retained their youth for 400 years. These Colgan, in his translation, has

It was scarcely worth while to com- suppressed. But he had given them

mit this little piece of dishonesty, before in the Vita Sexta : what pur-

The discrepancies in these legends pose therefore was served by theii

are curious : and possibly worthy of suppression here ?

ggz The original Story interpolated. [chap. i.

conversion of the Irish, which he knew had been
promised to St. Patrick by an angelic oracle.
Then Pope Celestine himself, in presence of St.
Germain, and of Amatus King of the Romans,
consecrated him bishop, and gave him the name
of Patricius. Auxilius, Iserninus, and some
others of his companions, were consecrated^ at
the same time. Three bodies of Psalmodists
sang praises to God on this occasion : the
heavenly choir ; the choir of the Romans ; and
the voice of the Irish children of the wood
Fochlut, who sang, * Hibernienses omnes rogamus
te S. Patrici, ut venias, et ambules inter nos, et
liberes nos.*
Theoriginai Qn Comparing these narratives no unprejudiced
tcrpoiatcd. mmd can doubt that the writers of these collec-
tions allowed themselves the utmost licence in
dealing with their authorities. The original
narrative of the Book of Armagh was interpolated
to impose upon an uncritical and credulous
people the fables of the ecclesiastical education
of St. Patrick under St. Germain, his monastic
tonsure under St. Martin, and his mission from
Pope Celestine. No antient or trustworthy
authority has countenanced these statements, in
reference to the second Patrick. Palladius Patri-
cius was undoubtedly commissioned by Pope
Celestine. Palladius was undoubtedly closely
connected with St. Germain. But we have no
evidence that the same things were true of

* Consecrated. * Consccrati sunt.' stand by this word episcopal comt-
But we are not ncfcswrily to under- cration.

CHAP. I.] Dr. Lanigans Version of It. ^^^

Patrick the Apostle of Ireland. The great dis-
crepancies in the several versions of the story
prove it to be legend and not history. Modern
w^riters, prejudiced in favour of the legend, in
order to prop up what they wished to retain of
the story, have been compelled to interpolate the
original narrative like the old legendary biogra-
phers. No man could be more thoroughly
honest, or more perfectly ready to express his
honest convictions, than Dr. Lanigan. But he Modem in-
was pledged by his education and prejudices to of the
uphold the Roman mission ^ and with it the
ecclesiastical education of St. Patrick. He has
therefore maintained that Patrick was sent to
Rome by St. Germain, not for the purpose of
being consecrated a bishop for the Scoti, but to
obtain authority to accompany, in an inferior
capacity, the mission to Ireland of which Palla-
dlus was the chief. He asserts without hesita-
tion, notwithstanding the contrary assertion of
Fiacc's Scholiast, ^ there can be no doubt ' that
bearing the recommendation of so great a saint
as Germain, Patrick * must have been ' well re-
ceived^ at Rome. Accordingly he adds with as
much confidence as if he himself was an original

' Roman mission. It is a pity that dius. The fact that missionaries were

this question should ever have been sent out with the sanction of Rome, no

in any way connected with the con- more proves the modem Papal claim

troversies between the Churches of to universal supremacy than the fact

England and Rome. So far as those of a bishop being now sent to the in-

eontroversies are concerned, we are no terior of Africa with the sanction of

more affected by the Roman mission Canterbury, wouldprovcthcuniversal

of St. Patrick, (if the fact could be supremacyof the Primate of England,
proved) than we are by the Roman * H^fU recei*ved. Lanigan, Eccl.

mission of St. Germain or of Palla- Hist, i., p. 184.

334 Modern Legend. [chaf. i.

witness of the fact, that Patrick was ' appointed
principal assistant to Palladius: a situation
which, although it entitled him to be raised to
the episcopacy in case of the death of Palla-
dius, was not equivalent to episcopal institution/
He says again, ' I have no doubt* that the Popc*s
intention was that in case of the demise of Palla-
dius St. Patrick should succeed him/ All this,
however, wc should bear in mind, is mere fiction,
without the slightest support from any antient
authority. The fiction indeed is better adapted
to sustain the ordeal of modem criticism, and is
in itself perhaps more probable, than the stories
which antient credulity was content to swallow.
But it is as purely fiction, and in reality as truly
legend, as the silly tales we have just quoted
from more antient interpolaters. The difficul-
ties which have given birth to these fictions,
modern as well as antient, have been created
altogether by the attempt to maintain, without
any evidence from original documents, that Patrick
had received a complete ecclesiastical education
in the best schools of the Gallican church, and
that he was regularly commissioned by the
Roman Pontiff to take the place of Palladius as
bishop of the Scots in Ireland.
How much The historical fact is probably no more than
ii historical, this, that Patrick (if this be not a fragment of the
b^trie^ ^"^ history of Palladius) was at Auxerre, when he be-
lieved himself to have seen a vision, calling upon

* No doubt. Ibid. p. 191.

CHAP. I.] Fragments of Antient Geography. 335

him to preach the Word of God to the Irish :
he set out immediately, attended by the
experienced presbyter Segetius, whom St. Ger-
main fif that be true) had appointed to ac-
company him : and it is possible that he may
have received episcopal consecration from some
Gallican bishop named Matorex or Amatorex,
before he set sail for Great Britain. If these
be the facts it must follow that he was a mis-
sionary to Ireland, not from Rome, but from St.
Germain and the Church of Gaul. One authority
identifies his consecrator with the celebrated
Amator of Auxerre. But if it were so, we must
suppose St. Patrick to have been consecrated
a bishop whilst his supposed tutor St. Germain
was still a layman, and to have begun his labours
in Ireland before Palladius, fourteen years at
least before the date^ usually assigned to his
mission.

It can scarcely be doubted, however, that some Fragment
of the legends which have been interpolated into ^eogSfph/."
this more simple story, preserve curious frag-
ments of forgotten geography, which lead to the
suspicion of their possible authenticity. They
belong in all probability to the first or Palladian
Patrick, and are remnants of his lost or sup-
pressed acts. His connexion with St. Germain
is an historical fact. He may have been

* Date. This is on the supposi- trick had been in Ireland as a miy-

tion that Amator died and was sue- sionanr before Palladius. This may

ceeded in the see of Auxerre by be a fragment of truth, especially as

Germain in 418. Probus, as we have it has been worked into the narrative

seen, preserves a tradition that Pa- with much clumsiness.

Hcnnoru

^^6 Ordination of Patrick. [chap. i.

ordained ^ not indeed consecrated a bishop, but
ordained perhaps deacon, by Amator or Amatorcx
of Auxerre : and we first read of him as the deacon
Palladius. He may have been originally a dis-
ciple of St. Martin, and may have gone at the
advice of his master to the island of Lerins^, in
the Mediterranean Sea, where St. Honorat had
then recently founded a celebrated religious
society. But this is mere conjecture.
Story of St. With rcspcct to the story of Patrick having
Mount been ordained priest, by a bishop St. Senior, near
Mount Hermon, who dwelt in a city fortified
with seven walls, this is most probably another
fragment of the life of Palladius. Colgan*
suggests that the real name of this prelate was
Senator, not Senior, and that he may have been
the Senator, a friend of St. Germain, who dwelt
in Italy, and who is mentioned by Constantius.*
Constantius indeed calls him ^ a presbyter ' only ;
but that title was often indifferently given to
bishops and priests. Palladius may have received

^ Ordained, Amator of Auxerrc Delta at the mouth of the Rhone :

died I May, 418, according to the which was antiently Caprennsy or

best authorities. Capraria. 7r. Tk. p. 30, not. 19,

' Lerins, This island, or rather, ao. The BoUandtsts (ad 17 Mart.

group of two islands, is not far from p. 528), have suggested Lerins, with

the coast opposite Cannes. One of much greater probability. It is cu-

the islands is now called St. Mar- rious tnat St. Lupus, who accompi-

guerite, the other St. Honorat. The nied Germanus to Britain, spent

names Aralenensis, Arclanensis, Ta- some time in the monastic society of

marensis, arc all probably corruptions Lerins, about a.d. 417. Actt. SS^

of Lerinensis. The name Tamarensis Julii vii. p. 6a. B. 7a. F.

presents the greatest difficulty, but • Colgan, 7r. Tk.^ p. 6a, not.

may have been t aken from the name of 17.

Cap de Camcrat, a headland in the "• Constantius, Vit. S. German, ii.

neighbourhood. Colgan, (following cap. 1 . n. 6. {Actt, SS,, Julii yii. p.

Ussher, Ind. Chron, a.d. 409,) sug- 117 B.) Lanigan suggests that S/aiir

gests that Tamarensis may be intended may not be a proper name, hot only

for Camargui^ a name given to the an assertion ot the bishop*s age.

CHAP. I.] Mount Hermon or Arnon. ggy

priest's orders from this prelate preparatory to his
being consecrated at Rome first bishop of the
Scots. Mount Hermon, Amon, Morion, as it is
variously called, is described as being on ' the
south side of the ocean,* ^ ar muir Letbuy i.e. on
the sea of Letha, ^ on a rock in the Tyrrhene
sea,' ^ in the city of Capua,* and * near the city
of Capua.' It is not easy to guess^ what place is
intended by these descriptions. Capua is not on
the sea, and cannot be recognized as being ^ on
the south side of the ocean,* even though we
should understand by the ocean the Mediter-
ranean sea. It is impossible that Mount Amon
or Hermon can have been at the same time ^ on
a rock in the Tyrrene sea ' and also * in the city
of Capua,' as the author of Vita Tertia tells us it
was. The description of it as a city surrounded
by seven walls, and its being on the south side
of the ocean, has led Dr. Lanigan to conjecture
that the celebrated Mount St. Michael^, in the
bay of Cancale near Avranches, may be intended.

> Guess, Colgan would read Caieta places Mount Hermon near the Island

for Capua, and the Mount, of Arx^ where Patrick met the married couple

Orlond, for Mount Hermon. 7>. Th. endowed with perpetual youth, and

p. 31, note 25, 26. The author of where he received 'the Staff of

Vita Tertia seems to have com- Jesus.'

bined three not very reconcileable ^ Mount St. MicAaeL LsmlpxifEccL

descriptions of the place when he H///. i. p. 166. The Celtic deriva-

describes it first in Irish /zrmKiVI^MA, tion of the word Hermon, from Aer

then as * supra petram maris Tyr- great, and mofn rock, adopted by

reni ;* and lastly as < in civitate qus I«anigan from Bullet, is untenable,

vocatur Capua.' Letha, for Letavia, Autbert, Bishop of Avranches, in

frequently signifies Armorica, but is 708, built on this isolated rock

sometimes used for Latium. On the the Church of St. Michael, which

whole there is here confusion ap- afterwards became the famous Bene-

parently inextricable, owing most dictine Abbey ; see Mabillon, Actt.

probably to antient errors 0? trans- SS,, O.S.B, Secul. iii. part i. 75 i

cription. The Irish Tripartite life iHao AnnaLn.i^,

Z

338

The Acts of Palladium [chaf. u

Story of
St Patrick's
landing in
Ireland.

Identical
with the
adventures
ascribed to
Palladius.

It seems difficult to avoid suspecting, from the
contradictory accounts given of the geographical
position of the place, that tvsro different stories
may have been mixed together : one relating to
the ordination of Palladius near Capua; the
other to the ordination of Patrick ' on the south
side of the ocean,* ar muir Lethaj on the sea of
Armorica.^

One or two other anecdotes, which we may
suspect to have been taken from the lost acts of
Palladius, may be here noticed for the reader's
consideration.

St. Patrick, on his arrival in Ireland, after
having been consecrated a bishop, landed, wc are
told, at Inbher Dea^ the mouth of a river in the
county of Wicklow, in the district of Hy Garr-
chon ; he was repulsed by the chieftain Nathi
Hua Garrchon, and compelled to return to his
ships, after which he sailed northwards.

This story is in almost every particular identical
with the adventures which, as we have already
seen, the Irish traditions attribute to Palladius. It

* Armorica, It must be admitted
that this description applies very well
to Mount St. Michael ; but wc have
no record of that place having ever
borne a name resembling Hermon,
Amon, or Morion. The natives
called it Tumba^ from its resemblance
to a Roman tomb : and it is usually
known by the name of St. Michael
in monte Tumba. It is called also S.
Michael in periculo maris^ from the
dangcrof crossing to it at an unfavour-
able state of the tide. See Mabillon^
Jctt. SS., ubi sitpr. 76. • Hie locus
^umba vocitatur ab incolis.*

* Inbher Dta, Keating (in the

reign of Laoshaire) writes thk LMer
Degmd^ the Inver (river *s moatli) of
Degad^ which seems to be m iiuui*t
name; see Colgan» 7r. Ti.jp. loo^
note 29. The other authonties all
r^ Inbher Dec or Dea, and Osthun
De«» Dee» Dea, or Deac. It is the aa-
tient name given to the mouth of the
Vartry river, on the strand near the
town of Wicklow. The Danes seem
to have made a settlement there in
835. (See 0'D6novan» FM0^Mkfllrri»
at A.D. 835 and 430}. It nay have
been a better harbour for snips in
antient times than it is at present.

CHAP. I.] attributed to St. Patrick. g^g

IS not reasonable to suppose that both missionaries
should have done exactly the same things ; that
both should land at the same place, both be driven
off by the same chieftain, and both turn to the
north of the island ; with this difference only, that
Palladius is driven (according to some accounts),
by a storm, round the northern coast of Scot-
land to the region of the Picts ; and Patrick
lands safely in Dal-aradia, w^here his ministry is
at once successful. It can scarcely be doubted
that the foregoing account belongs to Palladius,
and not to Patrick, who, we may readily believe,
went at once to Ulster, to visit the place with
which, as we shall see, he was formerly ac-
quainted, and where he probably expected to be
well received.

This conjecture is confirmed by observing the Fragmcn-
fragmentary nature of the early lives of St. tureofthc
Patrick. They are made up from passages
culled out of more antient biographies. These
passages are often inserted out of their chrono-
logical order, and not unfrequently we find in
the same author two or more different, some-
times inconsistent, accounts of the same event.

We have eight^ antient records of the Life of Anaiym of
St. Patrick. Of these, four make no mention of givcnofthe
the landing-place of Palladius in Leinster, and pbceofSL
not one of them particularises Inhber Dea as the ^^^^
port at which he landed, although, all say in

^ Eight, I.e. eight more important may hope soon to see published, by

records, viz., the seven lives pub- Dr. Reeves. There are also some

lished by Colgan, and the collection Lives, in the Irish language, of which

in the Book of Armagh, which we we need not here speak.

Z 2

340 Patcb^work Composition [chap. i.

general terms, that he landed in Hy Garrchon, in
the territory of the Leinster men, or in the pro-
vince of Leinster. Inbher Dea is first-named
when mention is made of the landing of St.
Patrick ; but, two of the Lives^, in speaking of
Patrick's landing-place, say that it was ^ the port of
the same rivers Dea,* meaning evidently the same
at which Palladius had landed, although no
mention of this port or river had occurred in the
previous portion of their narratives. This is a
clear proof that Inbher Dea had been mentioned
as the landing-place of Palladius, in the docu-
ments copied by these writers, and was omitted
by them or their transcribers, perhaps to avoid
making both missionaries land at the same place.
Keating^ is the only writer who expressly states
that Palladius landed at Inbher Dea, or Inbher
Degaid, as he calls it : and it is remarkable that
he is entirely silent as to the landing place of St
Patrick.
Patch-work The second Life, in Colgan*s Collection, taken
of The from a MS. in the monastery of St. Hubert in
Ardennes, is evidently old, and has transcribed
considerable passages from the Life in the Book
of Armagh.^ It affords a remarkable evidence of
the patch-work manner of compilation adopted

» The Liver, Viz. : the rtta Se- now lost.

cunda in '\i% first account of the land- * Book rf Armagh, The fact tbat

ing of Patrick, c. 25 ; and the Tripar- this writer had the Book of Armagh

tite, i. c. 41. This latter authority before him is a sufficient refutation

probably copied the earlier life with- of Colgan*s too easy credulity in

out consideration. supposing him to be ' Patrick junior,

' Keating, He is too modem to or one of St. Patrick *s ditciplcs.*

he himself of any authority ; but he He cannot have lived earliar thin

may have copied antient documents the eighth century.

•econd Life.

CHAP. I.] of the extant Lives of St. Patrick. 341

in these biographies, by putting together different
narratives of the same event. Thus, this wril
gives us first (c. zg) from the Book of Armagh,
with only some verbal alterations, the account
of Palladius already quoted^ in which no mention
is made even of the county or district in which
that missionary landed in Ireland. Then follows
(c. 24) another account^ in which Palladius is said
to have arrived in the district of the Lagcnians,
where Nathi Mac Garrchon opposed him. We
have also (c. 25) an account of the arrival of St.
Patrick *at the mouth oft be same river, i.e. Deac '^
as he calls it (although, as already remarked,
no such river had been mentioned before) where
he was opposed by * the same unrighteous chief-
tain, Nathi, who had before resisted Palladius.*
This is evidently out of its place, for it is imme-
diately followed (c. 26) by the story^ from the
Book of Armagh, of Patrick having heard in
Euboria of the death of Palladius, and of his
having gone out of his way to be consecrated by
Amatorex. Then follows (c. ^7), also from the
Book of Armagh, the story of the Druids of
King Laoghaire, at Tara, predicting the coming of
Patrick, and the overthrow of idolatry ; and then
(c. 28), we have the account, taken again from
the Book of Armagh, of the arrival of Patrick
in the country of the Lagenians, at Ostium Dea,

* Sluoted. See above p. 288. Do- * Deac, This may possibly be a

ciiment i. Fita Secunda^ c. 23. Tr, typographical error tor Deae\ unless

Th. p. 13. beac be the Celtic genitive.

^ Account. Given above, p. 294, * Story, See p. 288, Document i.
Document iv.

34^ Confusion as to the Landing-places [chaf. i.

his resolution not to remain there, and his sailing
to the north of Ireland.
The It is also worthy of note that the Scholiast on

Fuc^ctVus^** Fiacc's hymn records the landing in Wicklow,
^VaJildius the repulse by the natives, and the journey
only. towards the north, as the story of Palladius only.
He says not a word of the place at which Patrick
landed. But, on the other hand, the Book of Ar-
magh, Probus, and Joccline, have transferred the
substance of these adventures to Patrick, without
any notice of the landing-place of Palladius.
The author of the third Life has also attributed
the same adventures to Patrick, and says only of
Palladius (c. 26), that the inhabitants of the
island rejected him — * habitatores hujus insulse
non receperunt ejus doctrinam.' We can scarcely
desire a more conclusive proof that the legend
originally belonged to Palladius, and was trans*
ferred to St. Patrick.
Additional That part of this story which describes St.
^h^ Patrick as having been also rejected by the same
people who had rejected Palladius is embellished
in the later Lives by additional particulars which
are instructive. The third Life (c. 28), fol-
lowed by Joceline and the Tripartite, tclb us,
that when Patrick arrived at Inbher Dca, he
begged a supply of fish from the inhabitants, but
was rudely refused; whereupon he cursed the
river, which, although formerly abounding with
fish, immediately became barren. He then
(c. 29) disembarked at a place which this writer

later Lives.

CHAP. I.] of Palladius and St. Patrick. 343

calls Anat'Cailtrifty and Joceline^ Aonacb Taillten;
there again the people repulsed him violently,
' cum magna vi repulerunt eum;* immediately
the sea covered their land, which became a
useless swamp for ever. Thus, according to the
authors of these legends, the first visit of this
messenger of the Gospel of peace to the future
scene of his labours was marked by acts of im-
placable and permanent vengeance on the rude
and ignorant inhabitants. '

Probus is the only biographer who has assigned a different
a different reason and a different date to the p^ob^ ^
rejection of St. Patrick by the men of Wicklow.
According to this author ^ as we have already
seen, Patrick went originally to Ireland as a priest,
and commenced his labours there without any
commission from Rome. Attributing his want
of success to this defect, he resolved to abandon
his work, and seek for authority from the Holy
See : on his return, after having obtained epis-
copal consecration, he lands in the region of the
Cuolenni^ in Wicklow, but reflecting that it
was his duty to attempt first the conversion of
his old master Milchu, with whom he had

' JoceUne. Aonach Taillten, now * CuoUnni. Not E'voleni^ as in

Telltown, in the county of Meath, Probus, which is an error of trans-

Ls a very long way from the sea, and cription, although it is followed by

cannot be the place intended. Ussher Usshcr. The territory of Cualann

thought that some place on the shore was coextensive with the present

near Bray was meant. See Col^n, barony of Rathdown, in the north of

Tr. Th.^ p. 3 1 , n. 29. The story ot the the county of Wicklow. See O'Don-

inundation of Anat-cailtrin is omit- ovan. Book of Rights, p. 1 3 «. The

ted in the Tripartite Life. Anat- name remains in that of GlenculUn^

cailtrin is not now known under a valley near Bray. The old name

that name. of the « Sugar Loaf' Mountain, in

^ Author. Lib. i. c. 1 9. See above, the same district, was SUabh-Cua-

p. 325, sq. lunn.

344 Sinell, son of Finncadb, [chaf. i.

been in servitude in Dal-aradia, he sails to the
north. No mention is made of his having
received any repulse from the natives of Wick-
low; and it is worth noting, that this explanation
of his motives for sailing northward is given in
the Book of Armagh, whose words Probus has
borrowed, and by all those biographers^ who
have suppressed the story of his rejection in
Wicklow. These discrepancies are an additional
confirmation of the suspicion that all this account
of the landing in Wicklow belongs to Palladius,
rather than to Patrick,
sineii and To this wc mav add another circumstance which

Dichu both , , , ,

Bid to be gives rise to the same suspicion. The author of
convert! of thc sccoud Life, in that account of St. Patrick*s
ii^Sid/" landing at Inbher Dea (cap. 2^^ which he has not
taken from the Book of Armagh, tells us that not-
withstanding the resistance of the ungodly Nathi,
another chieftain of the same family, SincU son of
Finncadh, believed, and was the first native* of
Ireland baptised by St. Patrick. The very same
author, however, in another passage* tells us that
Dichu, a chieftain of the Dal-fiatach, dwelling
near Sabhall, now Saul, in the county of Down,
was the first who believed from St. Patrick's
preaching: ^primus Scotorum* per Patricium

* Biographers, See Fita Stcunday tion of the statement that Didiii was
c. 28, (which is, however, the Book the first convert, is taken fioai the
of Armagh.) Vit, 4/^7. c. 31. Book of Arma^^.

' Tint HaH*ve, * Primus ex gente * Primms Sctttmm. Probus, (iibJ.c

Scotorum baptisatus est/ The same 28.^ makes the same statement. * Cie-

statement is repeated by the Trtpar- didit ergo homo ille primus onnium

tite Life, Part i. c. 42. insulanonim, ami omni domo et

* Passage. See hi, ida, cap. 29. familia sua.^ Tr.Ti.^p. 53, (wrongly
The whole passage, with the excep- numbered 49.}

CHAP. I.] probably converted by Palladius. 345

confessus est.' These statements are directly
contradictory. But we read that notwithstand-
ing the short sojourn made by Palladius in Lein-
ster, some of the natives were baptised by him^ :
possibly, therefore, the foregoing contradiction
may be reconciled by supposing Sinell to have sineu pcr-
been the first fruits of the teaching not of Patrick y'^^ly
but of Palladius. Sinell was of the race of the ^*"****"'*
kings of Leinster, of the clan Hy Garrchon :
his genealogy is known^: he was a cousin of the
Nathi Ua Garrchon who resisted Palladius, and
there is nothing inconsistent with the Chronology
in supposing him to have been converted to
Christianity by that bishop.

See above p.

* Baptised by him.
294, Document iv.

2 Kn(ywn. See Geneal. Table V.
No. 84, p. 253 supra. Colgan has
confounded this chieftain with St.
Sinchell of Cill-achaidh-droma-foda
(nowKilleigh, King's County), who
was surnamed Scnex^ or ih^ elder, and
diedA.D.548.(7r.T-^.,p. 18, note 34.
Four Masters y p. 187). Our author
calls Sinell * son of Findchad,' al-
though he was in reality great grand-
son of Findch ad. This is very common
with Irish writers, and is a source of
confusion in our history. It means
only that he was of the immediate de-
scendants of Findchad in the direct
line, and of the family called Mac
Findchadha. InthelistofSt. Patrick's
household, {Four Masters, a.d. 448)
Sinell is said to have been Patrick's
bell-ringer ; and in another authority.

quoted by Dr. O'Donovan in his
note (ibid,) he is called St. Patrick's
Ostiarius, or Doorkeeper, But this list
is not antient, nor of any authority,
and the name of Sinell or Sinchell
occurs so frequently in Irish history,
that no inference can be drawn from
the document. The insertion of the
name in the list was probably sug-
gested by the very story we are con-
sidering. This renders unnecessary
the violent explanations of the diffi-
culty suggested by Colgan, that
Sinell was Patrick's first convert
in Ireland absolutely, and Dichu his
first convert in Ulster ; or that
Dichu was the first who became
a monk. 'Quae sic sunt ii\telli-
genda, quod Dichu sit primus in
Ultonia, Sinellus vero primus abso-
lute conversus in Hibernia.' 7r. Th.
p. 18, n. 35.

CHAPTER II.

StPa-
triclc*t Con-
fession.

The History and Acts of St. Patrick Apostle of
Irelayidy and Founder of the see of Armagh. His
IVritings. His early History as gathered from
his Writings. Date of his Mission.

HE Confession^ of St. Patrick has
been already spoken of. It is older
than any of the extant biographies ot
the Saint, for they almost all quote
and adopt its words ; a copy of it was trans-
cribed at the end of the 8th or very early in the
9th century into the collection called the Book
of Armagh. This copy professes to have been
taken from the autograph of St. Patrick, for that
seems to be the meaning of the colophon, * Thus

' Confession, This work was first
printed by Sir James Warc(S. Patricio
ascripta OpiucuJa, LonJ. 1656), from
four MSS., viz. the Book of Armagh,
a MS. in the Cottonian Library, and
two in the library of Salisbury Ca-
thedral, which arc now in the
Bodleian. The Bollandists printed
it in 1668, from a MS. of the
Abbey of St. Vaast, at Noialle,
Actt. SS.y Mart. tom. iii. jp. 533).
Dr. O' Conor reprinted it from the
Cotton MS. in 18 14, (Rer, Hihern,
Scriptt. tom. i. Prolrg. I. p. cvii.) Sir
Wm. Bctham gave very maccurately
the text of the Book of Armagh,
with a most faulty English version,
in his IrisA Antia. Researches^ part ii.
Dubl. 1827. Dr.Villanueva reprinted

it from the text of the Bdlandisfs
with various readings and notes,
Opusc. S, Patridi^ p. 184, Dublin,
1835 : and a new edition of it may
soon be expected in the forthcoming
publication of the Book of Armagh
by Dr. Reeves. A well executed
English translation appeared, Dk^
lin, 1853, by Rev. Thomas Olden t
and an inaccurate one by an excellent
Roman Catholic clergyman, DMtm,
1859. The confession of St. Patrick
was unknown to Colgan, whose Trims
TAaumaturga was printed in 1647,
nine years before the publication oi
Ware's Opmscula S, Patridi ; at
least he knew it only from UsaherN
Quotations, which are taken from
tne Book of Armagh.

CHAP. II.] Authenticity of the Confession. 347

far the volume which Patrick wrote with his
own hand.' — Hue usque volumen quod Patricius
tnanu comer ipsit sua. It was certainly transcribed
from a MS. which even in the year 800 was
beginning to become obscure, and of whose
obscurities the transcriber more than once
complains. It possesses, therefore, no mean
external evidence of authenticity.

Although this Tract is not free from supersti- it» claim to
tion, it contains none of the ridiculous miracles ddty?
which the later biographers of St. Patrick de-
lighted to record, and which are to be found
in abundance even in the more antient collec-
tions preserved in the Book of Armagh. It is
altogether such an account of himself as a
missionary of that age, circumstanced as St.
Patrick was, might be expected to compose.
Its Latinity is rude and archaic ; it quotes the
ante-Hieronymian Vulgate ; and contains nothing
inconsistent with the century in which it pro-
fesses to have been written. If it be a forgery
it is not easy to imagine with what purpose
it could have been forged.^

The copy of the Confession in the Book of The
Armagh is much shorter than the copies found cop7*ofthc
in later MSS., and the suspicion arises that the "^"*°''-
tract may have been interpolated after the date

* Forged, The genuineness of quorum judicio ' to use the words of

this work and of the Epistola ad Dr. O'Conor, 'absque validissimis

Coroticum, is admitted by Ussher, in contrarium argumentis, temerarii

Ware, Cave, Spelman, Tillemont, csset, ct prorsus insani discedere.*

Mabillon, D'Achery, Martene, Du Rer. Hih. Scriptt. Vol. i. Proleg. i.

Canee, Bollandus, Dupin, O* Conor, p. cv.
Lanigan, Villanueva, and others, * a

348 The Armagh Copy. [chap. n.

of the original or autograph copy from which
that in the Book of Armagh was transcribed*
This is a circumstance of some importance. If
we are to regard the passages not found in the
Book of Armagh as interpolations, it is evident
that we cannot draw from them the same
inferences as if they were the undoubted words
of the author. Nevertheless these interpolations,
as we may call them for convenience* sake, are of
a high antiquity. They are written in the same
rude dialect of Latin, and exhibit internal evi-
dence of having proceeded from the same pen as
the rest of the work. The difficulty is to explain
why they are omitted in the Armagh copy,
which professes to have been transcribed from the
author's autograph. It is possible that they may
have formed the substance of a second part,
which copyists took upon themselves to incor-
porate with the first. If it be maintained
that the scribe of the Book of Armagh has
designedly abridged^ his original, he must have
done so either because it contained passages
which he was unable to read, or because he
had other copies of the work in which the
omitted paragraphs were to him plain and

^ AbrUged, Dean Graves is of was difficult or obscure, are also of

opinion that the Armagh copy i!» an frequent occurrence in the maipn.

abridgment, and avowedly an abridg- The fiook of Armagh is full of

mcnt, of the original work. There Greek letters ) which renders the

occur in the margin in several above explanation of the k the more

places, the letter k, (meaning as he probable. In some places also we

thinks, the initial of the Greek word find et cetera^ or et rmqtui^ as if the

Ci|rfir»,) and in other places the writer left out portions of the 1

letter d, for diest. The words incer- tive which were well-known, or of
tus iibiTf signifying that the original which he had other copies.

CHAP. II.] The Epistle about Coroticus. 349

obvious. The omitted passages, however, are
of considerable length, and if put together vv^ould
probably very nearly equal in bulk the whole
text of the Confession as it appears in the Book
of Armagh. Until further examination of the
extant MSS. has thrown more light on the sub-
ject, it would be rash to reject altogether the
evidence of these interpolations.

The Epistle to Coroticus does not occur in TheEpbtic
the Book of Armagh. Perhaps it was not found cus.
in the autograph book of St. Patrick from which
the Confession was transcribed into that Codex.
Its Latinity is apparently of the same age, and
from the same pen, as the Confessio. It quotes
the old Latin version of the Bible, and there
seems no internal evidence against the supposi-
tion that Patrick may have been its author.

Nevertheless, the learned Casimir Oudin^ o«din*8
opposes strongly the authenticity of these docu-
ments. His main objection is the rude and
barbarous Latinity, which in his opinion was
affected to impose on uncritical and simple
readers. He adds that it is difficult to believe
the Roman pontiffs ^ so stupid ' as to send forth
missionaries to instruct others who were them-
selves barbarous and incapable of writing pure

^ Oudin. De Scriptoribus Eccl. torn, apertarum narium viris, imponeret.

i. col. 1 1 67. * Verum quisquis opus- Quis enim credat ita stupidos fiiisse

cula ista attente legerit, et ad stylum Romanos Pontifices, ut ad praedicati-

seculi V. apertum et purum ex plurimis onem Evangelii promovendam, viros

scriptoribus turn Gallis turn Italis, indoctos seculo Ecclesiae quinto, ac

attenta mente respexerit : statim bar- latinitate barbaros mitterent ? Jam si

bariem banc agnoscet consulto, ab Patricius homo eruditus ac seculo v.

eo qui ista supposuit, excogltatam clarus, quis credat scripsisse stylo

esse, quo simphcioribus ac minus semilatino ac barbaro ?*

objeciioiu.

^go Oudins Object tons. [chap. n.

Latin. ' Who can believe/ he says, * if Patrick
was a man of learning and celebrity in the fifth
century, that he could have written in a half
Latin and barbarous style V

But this is one of the strongest arguments
in favour of the authenticity of these writings.
The Patrick of the Confessio and of the Epistle
about Coroticus does not so much as pretend to
any learning, and says not a word of having been
commissioned by the Bishop of Rome. He
makes no claim to primacy or archiepiscopal
jurisdiction in Ireland. He says nothing of
Armagh, or any other episcopal see in that
country. He calls himself in general terms a
bishop in Ireland, deriving his commission
directly from God himself; — ^ Hiberionc consti-
tutus episcopus, certissime reor, a Deo accepi
quod sum.'^
oudin's May we not, therefore, retort the argument ?

argument ... . . ^

retorted. It is impossiblc to conccivc with tvhat purpose
these Tracts could have been forged or attributed
to Patrick, and a barbarous style of language pur-
posely assumed, if that missionary was believed to
have been a man of learning and celebrity, sent
with a commission from Rome to exercise archi-
episcopal jurisdiction in Ireland. It must at
least be admitted that if they are forgeries they
were forged before these things came to be
asserted or popularly believed of the great St.
Patrick.

* Sluod sum. Or according to Certissime reor t Deo iccepi qsod
another reading, < Hiberione consti- sum/ Epist, ad Ctroiiaim, Opine.
tutum episcopum me esse fateor. Villanueva^p 140.

CHAP. 11.] These Tracts the Basis of the Lives. 35 1

Assuming, then, the genuineness of these These
writings, we shall proceed to gather from the basis of
them such particulars as they may be found ^kk's
to contain of the life, opinions, and actions of
St. Patrick ; noticing, whenever it may seem
necessary, the additional information supplied by
the Lives and other later authorities. This,
at least, is certain, that the biographical outline \
of the acts of St. Patrick, given in these \
documents, has been made the basis of all the /
Lives now extant. That outline is as it were \
the skeleton which the biographers have clothed
with miracle and legend.

Both these works are written in the style of
Epistles, and were antiently known by that
name. The Confession is frequently cited in the
Lives as ^ from the Book of Epistles of Patrick.*
In some MSS. the Confessio is entitled^ Episto-
larum Liber I., and the Letter about Coroticus, or
to the subjects of Coroticus, Epistolarum Liber II.

The author was advanced in life and had Both
laboured for some years in Ireland when he wh« L
wrote these Tracts. The Confession is a defence danced in
of himself against some undefined and not very "'*•
clearly stated charges of presumption in under-

1 Entitled, So in the Cotton MS. third Life, cap. +, * in libro episcopi/

according to Dr. O'Conor. Rer, Hib, and cap. 1 1, * in libris suanim Epis*

Scriptt. be. cit. p. cxvii. The Con- tolarum.' The Tripartite, lib. i. c.

fessio, in Colgan's Vita 4ta, cap. i 19, *ex libro Epistolarum ipsius.*

and 4, is cited *ex libris Epistolarum T The Book of Armagh contains the

cap. 1 6, * ex libro quern de vita et con- Confession only, but speaks in the

versatione sua ipse composuit.' The plural, as if the scribe had intended

second Life, cap. 4, quotes the Con- to give more : * Incipiunt Libri

fession, * ex libro episcopi,' and Sancti Patricii Episcopi.*
cap. II, * ex libris episcopi.' The

352 Denunciation of Coroticus. [chap. n.

taking his mission, and of incompetency for the
work. In answer, he appeals to his own history,
and alludes, with great modesty and humility, to
the success of his labours as a proof that his
ministry was recognised by God himself. The
Epistle is a denunciation of a chieftain Coroticus,
who appears from his name to have been a petty
sovereign of Cardiganshire. He is supposed * to
have been the Caredig, or Ceredig, son of Cynedda,
who flourished in the fifth century, and who gave
his name to the county of Cardigan, called by
the Welsh Caredigiawn. Be this, however, as it
may, the Caradoc spoken of in the Epistle,
although a nominal professor of Christianity, is
represented to have landed in Ireland, at the head
of his followers, committing every kind of outrage.
Amongst other victims he put to death some neo-
phytes on the very day after their baptism, whilst
the symbol of their faith was wet upon their fore-
heads, and they were still clad in their white
baptismal vestments.^ Others he carried off
prisoners to sell as slaves; and when Patrick
remonstrated by letter, sending a holy presbyter
and some clergy, to implore that some of the
plunder and the baptised captives might be

^ Supposed, See IVelsh Saints ^hy aua chrismati Neophyti m TCite

Rev. Rice Rees, p. 1 35. Caredig, son dida, dum [fides]) flagralMt in £poote

of Cynedda Uledig, b said to have ipsoniniy cnideliter trucidati at<|ue

expelled the Gwyddyl or Irish from mactati [sunt] gladio a supradktia, Et

South Wales, and afterwards to have misi epistolam, cum sancto Pitsby*

taken pos.se.ssion of the country. See tero, quem ego ex infaotii docui,

his genealogy from the Welsh re- cum clericis, ut nobis mliauid indul-

cords. Hist, and Antiq. of the Co, of ecretur de pneda, Tel de capdm

Cardigan^ by S. R. Meyrick. Introd, baptizatis quos cepenint. [Scd] ci-

p. 18. Lond. 4to. 1808. chinos fccerunt de illis.* FiUMmmfm^

' Baptismal 'vestments^ * Postera die Opusc, p. 141*

CHAF. II.] His own Account of bis Family. 353

restored, the lawless chieftain dismissed the vener*
able embassy with scoffs and ridicule.

The author styles himself in both these Tracts He
Patricius, and in both, at the very commence- icJang.
mcnt of the epistolary style which he adopts,
acknowledges himself to be unlearned — *indoctus'
— and rustic or rude — * rusticissimus ' — in other
words, brought up in the country as an unedu-
cated man.

In the Confession he tells us that he was Hbiccoaat
the son of Calpumius a deacon, who was the ^LStitiid
son of Potitus a priest*, the son of Odissus. "™'^"
Upon this hint the biographers have constructed
a genealogy, tracing him up to Britus or Britan-
nus, the ancestor of the Britanni. The names
arc none of them Celtic, and the genealogy
proves only that the antient tradition regarded
him as a native of Great Britain. The biogra-
phers tell us also, but without any authority
from the Confession^, that his mother*s name
was Conches, or Conchessa, daughter of £x:ba-

' j1 frust. « Patrem habui Cal- This grnealogy bcinff eridently too

pomtum diaconcm, filtuin quondam short, iicveral gcnentions hare been

Pi .1 iti prrxbytcri/ Warty Otujc. p. i . added by later writeri. (See Ussher,

The Tripartite Life (i. i.) reverses Amtwq,c. ty^ff^trh^ri, p. 37!.) In

thi%, makine Calpumiufi the priest the Hymn of Fiacc three generation

and Pf>citu.H the deacon. The Bciok of are given, and Odi»us is said to have

Arniagh ad(l«>, in the margin, but in been also a deacon, Mac Ca^mirm^

the handwriting of the original macOtuU^JhdtockaimOMjse, Tr.Th.

«<ri}>e, ' filii Odtvsi/ a name wnich p. 1. i.e. 'He was son of Calpuim,

U poH^ihly meant for Photiuj. See son of Putitus, and grandson of the

C'oljjan, 7r. Th. Append. V. ad *vit. deacon Odissus.'
S. Fatruii, cap. 3, p. 224. The • From tke Comfesthm, At Icait

S( holia^t on Fiacc gives the e^neal- not from our present a^ics{ but the

o^' thus : 'Patrick mac Calputrn, authorof Vita Quarta, cap. 1. quotes

va' Potit, m* Oiiivsi, m' Goremi, m* the Confession for the statement that

Mcmruid, m' Ota, m' Muric, m* hi* mother's name was Conchesi.

1,(11, m" Maximi, m' Hcncriti, m* This is perhaps the Latin Cmcetsa^

Ft rin, m' Bruti, a quo sunt Bretani or Cwqiujfa.
r.uminati.* S. hUure MS. (Roime).

A A

354

His Father a Decurio.

[chap. II.

His Father
a Decurio.

tius, or, as some authorities call him, Ochmus\
a Frank. She is said to have been a sister, or a
sister's daughter, of St. Martin of Tours ; but
for this there is no real evidence.*'^

In the Epistle against Coroticus Patrick tells
us that he was of a respectable family^, according
to the flesh, his father having been a Decurio,
and that he gave up his nobility for the good
of others when he devoted himself to the mis-
sionary life. There is no inconsistency in this.
His father, although in deacon's orders, may also
have held the civil office of a decurio, which
conferred of itself a certain amount of temporal
rank and nobility.* And the fact that Calpumius
is said to have held that office may perhaps tend

' Ochmus, Ochmus and Ecbatius,
or Ecbasius, are in fact, the same,
the b being interchanged with «r.
The antient tract * On the mothers
of the saints of Ireland,' attributed
to Aengus the Culdee (9th cent.),
gives a different name to the mother
of Patrick, and makes her a Briton,
not a Frank. It begins thus : ' Ond-
bahum or Gondbaum of the Britons
was the mother of Patrick and his
five sisters, viz. : Lupait and Tigris,
and Darerca and Riccnd,' [the fifth
is omitted] . * Others say that Con-
cheass was the name of his mother,
and she was the sister of Martin. Or
Cochmais daughter of Ochmus was
his mother.' Book of Lecan^ fol. 43,
a, a. The name of Ondbahum or
Gondbaum is not alluded to by Col-
gan, or any of trie biographers : the
Franks were then Pagan and not
likely to give the Latin name of Con-
cessa to a daughter. Gondbaum
seems Frankish, not British, and
probably signifies * Battle-tree.'
GonJ is battle, and bahum, or baum,
is the Teutonic word for a tree, of
which our English beam and boom

are descendants. GoHdcbaiui occun
in French history as the name of one
of the sons of Gondiochus, King of
the Bur^ndians in the fifth century.
" Enftdence, The oldest authority
for this seems to be the Scholiast on
Fiacc's Hymn, who sajrs, ' §cms hm
jtur side cobnesta do Martmm;* i.e.
' She was near sister to Martin.* S.
Didore MS, (Rome). This shews that
the Irish word siyr^ sister, often sig-
nifies a more distant relatiTc, and
hence Jocelin translates it cmsoM-
guifiea, and Colgan*s version of
the Tripartite 'soror scu cognati.*
Sister in the literal sense was not
thought tenable. The other lives say
nothmg of this supposed relationship.

* Resectable fasmify. * Ingenuus
sum secundum camem ; nam Deni-
rione patre nascor.* FilUuuitva, p.

* Nobility. See Dr. Villanueva's
note, p. 252. The office of a decu-
rio was that of a magistrate and
counsellor in the Roman colonin.
In later times the clergy were ex-
empted by law firom these office*;
but in the times here spoken of, and

CHAP. II.] His Birth-place. 2>SS

to shew that he belonged to one of the Roman
provinces of Great Britain rather than to Bretagne
Armorique. It is a mistake to suppose that a
decurio was necessarily a military officer.

The Confession goes on to say that his father Bonavcm
was of the village, or t'/Vwj, called Bonavem Taber- not said to
niae, and had there a farm or small property, from thTbirth-
whence he himself (Patrick) was taken captive.^ PaScL^^*
It is strange that these words have been so
generally understood to signify that he was horn?
at Bonavem Taberniae, wherever that place
may have been ; whereas it seems very clear that
our author says only that it was from thence
he was carried away captive : (ubi ego capturam
dedi.)

The Hymn of Fiacc tells us expressly that
' Patrick was born at Nemthur ; ' and the ques-
tion arises, where were these places ? At all
events, there is no inconsistency between the two
statements, even though we suppose Nemthur

in the remote colony to which the have been the usual magistrates of a

father of St. Patrick belonged, there Roman colony in the district,
is no difficulty in believing him to * Capti've, * Qui [sc, pater ejus]

have been at the same time a deacon fiiit vico Bannavem Tabcmiae, vil-

and a decurio, especially as he is re- lulam enim prope habuit, ubi ego

presented as having had some landed capturam dedi.' Book of Armagh^

property in the colony. See Bing- fol. 22, a a. The reading * VilluEim

ham, Antiq. book iv. c. 4, sect. 4. In Enon,' given by Ware, is not coun-

the times, of St. Ambrose and St. tenancedby the Book of Armagh,

Augustin, the question of exempting or by the MS. of St. Vedast, as pub-

the clergy from such secular services lished by the Boiiandists.
wasstrenuously mooted} see 7'/7/^z«o«/, ' Born. This mistake is at the

Hist. EccL X. p. 206. Dr. Lanigan foundation of all that Dr. Lanigan

says, (i. p. 125) * I believe it would has said in favour of Bologne-sur-

be difficult for the sticklers for St. mcr having been the birth-place of

Patrick's birth in North Britain to the saint. EccL Hist, i. p. 92, sq,

find a Curia or Decurions in Kilpa- But the same mistake is made by

trick, or any place near it, in the some of the older biog^phers. See

fourth century.' But if Kilpatrick Vita xday c. 1. Vita '^tia, c. i.

was in a Roman colony, there must Probtu^ lib. i.e. 1 .

A A 2

356 Nemtbur, or Alcluatd. [chap. n.

and Bonavem Taberniae to be different and in
different countries ; for, as we have said, the
Confessio does not mention the latter as the
place of his birth, but only as the place from
which he was carried captive to Ireland.
Ncmthur Thc qucstion does not seem of sufficient im-
piacc portance to the object of this work to be allowed
to occupy much space. The Scholiast^ on
Fiacc's Hymn understood by Nemthur the fort
of Alcluaid, now Dumbarton, on the Firth of
Clyde. And the Irish tradition undoubtedly
favours this opinion. In the Confession St.
Patrick speaks of the Britannia^ (in the plural
number^) as his country, and the country of his
parents or relations. For instance, having men-
tioned his escape from captivity in Ireland, he
says, * Again after a few years I was in the Britan-
nicE^ with my parents (cum parentibus meis), who
received me as a son, and earnestly (ex fide)

^ SchoUast, His words are < Sem- which Patrick says, speaking of the

thuTy i.e. it is a city, in North Bn- virgins who had deroted themsehrcs

tain, viz., Alcluada.' Dr. Lanigan's to Christ, * Wherefore, however I

criticism that the m in Nem-thur might have been able and willing to

ought to be aspirated and pronounced leave them and go into the Britanniae,

by *v, or p, IS untenable, and only as to my country and relatives (pi-

proves his ignorance of the Celtic rentes),andnotonly8obutaUotothe

language. EccL Hist. i. p. loi. Galliae, to visit my brethren, and to

This sort of aspiration occurs in the see the face of the saints of my Lord;

modem Celtic only. God knows how greatly I wished it,*

' Plural number. And therefore etc. radamfrvtf, c 19, p. 103. ifjnr,

denoting the Roman Britanniae or p. 17. This seems to mfiply that be

provinces of Great Britain. had spiritual brethren in the mooa*-

' Brit ann tie, * In Britanniis," so teries of Gaul. But it clearly dis-

Ware, p. 9, and the Book of Ar- tin^ishes between the Britannije,

magh : Villanueva reads, < in Bri- which is spoken of as his country,

tannia," p. 194, following the text and the Gallis; in the former be

published by the Bollandists, p. 535, had his relatives or parents (pa-

(ad 17 Mart.). There is another rentes), in the latter nis mona&tir

passage, which, however, does not brethren and the Lord*s saints.
occur in the Book of Armagh, in

CHAP. II.] Confusion in the later Lives. g^y

besought me, that then at least, after the so
great tribulations which I had endured, I should
never again leave them.'

The second and third Lives, compiled after
the patchw^ork fashion of which we have already
spoken, assign to St. Patrick two birthplaces,
evidently copied from two different documents.
He was born, they tell us, in Ncmthur, and,
immediately afterwards^ he was born * in Campo
Taburne,' or * in Campo Taburniae,' as if they
meant to translate so the Bonavem Tabemiae of
the Confessio. The word Bonavem, however, can
scarcely be made to signify Campus, or a plain.
If it be of Celtic origin, as it seems to be, it
might possibly be translated river s moutb.^ The
only way of reconciling these statements is by
supposing that Bonavem Tabemiae and Nemthur
were different names for the same place ; or that
Nemthur was a fort or town, as one of the
biographers tells us it was, in the region of
Bonavem Taberniae. Of such a region, however,
we have no information. It is not called a
region in the Confession, but a town, village, or

* Afttrwards. * Natus est igitur tained (indubitanter comperimus)

in illo oppldo Nemthor nomine . . . the Vicas Bannave to have been in

Patricias natus est in campo Ta- Nentria, or Neutria, * in qua olim

burne.' T/V. ida^ cap. i. * Natus gigantes habitasse dicuntur.' This

est igitur Patricius in illo oppido Lanigan tells us is Neustria. But

Nemthor nomine Patricius Jocelm, and the Tripartite did not

natus est in campo Tabumia?.' Vit. understand it so : and it is not easy to

3//V7, cap. I. The fourth Life makes see how Neustria could be in Briton-

Nemthor a town in the Campus Ta- mis. Jocelin renders the mare occi-

berniae, c. i. Probus tells us that dentale of Probus, by marc Hibemi-

Patrick was bom * in Britanniis ; ' cum. ^

that his father was * de vico Bannave ' Ri*ver^s mouth. This intcrpre-

Tiburniae regionis, baud procul a tation has been suggested by Lani-

marioccidentali:' he adds that having gan, vol. i. p. 93.
investigated the matter he had ascer-

358 Patrick not a Native of Ireland, [chaf. n.

vicus. Some of the biographers say that the
place had its name of Taherna or Tabernla from
the tabernacles or tents of an antient Roman
camp^ which was formerly there. This cannot
possibly be so ; for Tabcmae signifies booths or
shops, not tabernacles or tents. Lanigan's con-
jecture, that Bononia Tarvannae, or Tarabannse,
was intended, and that the place so designated is
now Boulogne-sur-mer^, however ingenious, is
contrary to all the antient traditions on the
subject.
ThcEpiitic A passage in the Epistle to Coroticus has
d°o^no?^ been understood as if it asserted that St. Patrick
^^^v^ was a native of Ireland^ an assertion which
Ireland. would bc iu coutradiction to all other authorities.
But the text of this passage is so corrupt that no
inference can fairly be drawn from it. The
MSS. read Yheria and Hiberia. * Hibemia ' seems
to have been substituted by the editors. In
every other place the author of these Tracts gives
the name of Hiberio to Ireland ; and Hiberia may
be a mistake for Hiberio. But even admitting
that this is so, and that Ireland is intended, the
words from which the inference is drawn appear
to have been applied to those of whom he was
writing, not to himself

* Roman camp. See Fita la, c. i . to have been bom in Ireland. An-

yita 3tf, c. I. yita 421, c. i. Jocelin^ tiqq. c. .17. (Works, vi. p. 377.)

c. I . But this mistake arose from a con-

^ Boulogne-sur-mrr. Lanigan, i. fusion of which it is strange to

p. 93, sq., supports this theory with find Baronius a victim : ' In Scotia

very great plausibility and learning. natalc S. Patricii/ in the ancient

' Ireland. Ussher has quoted se- Calendars, denoted not the day of

veral modern authors, (among the his birth, but the day and pUce uf

rci>t Baronius) who supposed Patrick his death, as Ussher nas shewn.

CHAP. II.] His Lament for the Irish Captives. ^^g

The Church*, he says, weeps and wails over her sons, and
over her daughters whom the sword has not yet slain but who
are exiled and carried away to for off lands, where sin openly
prevails and shamelessly abounds. There Christian freemen
are reduced to slavery, and that by the most unworthy, most
infamous, and apostate Picts. Therefore with sorrow and
sadness I will cry out, O most beauteous and well beloved
brethren — my sons whom I have begotten in Christ — I
cannot tell what to do with you ! I am not worthy to give
help to God ^ or men. The unrighteousness of the unrighteous
hath prevailed over us. We are become* as aliens. Per-
chance they believe not that we have received one baptism, that
we have one God our Father. With them it is a crime that
we are born in Iberia, but it is said*, Have ye not one God ?
Why do ye wrong one to another ? Wherefore I grieve for
you, I grieve, my well beloved, for myself; but at the same time
{iterum) I rejoice within myself that I have not laboured in vain,
and that my pilgrimage has not been in vain ; and yet there
hath come to pass this so horrible and unspeakable outrage.

It Is clear that in this passage, the author is
not speaking of himself, but of those who were
sold as slaves to the apostate Picts. He speaks in
their name, and in the plural number, making him-
self as one of them. The general meaning seems
to be, that the captives were treated as aliens or
strangers ; the pirates by whom they were carried

^ The Church. Ware, Opusc. p. unum Deum habetis, &c.' The

28, whose text gives the best sense, Bollandists read, * Indignum est illis

and is here followed. quod de Hibemia nati sumus : sic

^ To God. Meaning perhaps, * in enim aiunt," omitting the quotation

the sight of God or men.* The MS. *nonne unum Deum,' &c. Although

followed by the Bollandists, omits they print Hibemia, they tell us that

Deo : * non sum dignus hominibus their MS. reads Yberia^ and that

subvenire.' they had omitted the quotation,

2 We are become. The Holland- Nonne unum Deum, &c., because they

ists omit the words, * Quasi extranei could make no sense of it, and sus-

facti sumus/ Fillanue'va, c. 9, p. 245. pected that some words had been

* It is said. Actt. vii. 26. Here lost. They add,* Ex quibus alius con-

the two sets of MSB. differ widely, jectando felicior commodum sensum

Ware reads, 'Indignum est illis,//i- exsculpat; putamusnos verba aliquot

hernia nati sumus, sicut ait, Nonne excidisse,' p. 540.

360 His Family connected with [chap. u.

off professed indeed Christianity, but they forgot
that their captives were also baptised believers in
Christ; they made no scruple of imputing to
them their Iberian or Irish birth as a crime.
If Coroticus had at that time succeeded in
banishing the Gwyddil or Irish settlers from
South Wales, and in the frenzy of victory had
pursued them to Ireland, it is not unnatural that
his followers should regard every native of Ireland
as an enemy, and treat him as such.
St Pa- It appears, however, from an antient tradition,

family c;:n- although it is uot distinctly alluded to in the Con-
ATmoriL. fession or in the Epistle, that St. Patrick's family
had either come originally from Armoric Britanny,
or was closely connected with that country.
The Scholiast on Fiacc preserves the following
legend ^ which" is given as a note on the words
of Fiacc's Hymn ' He was six years^ in slavery:*

This was the cause of the servitude of Patrick ; his fiither
was Calpuirnn \ Conches daughter of Ochmuis was his mother
and [the mother] of his five sisters, namely Lupait, and
Tigris, and Liamain, and Darerca, and the name of the fifth
was Cinnenum. His brother was Sannan. They all went
from the Britons of Alcluaid, across the Iccian sea, southwards,
on a journey ' to the Britons who are on the Sea* of Icht,
namely, the Britons of Letha*, because they had brethren [i.e.

' Legend, This narrative is trans- years after the similitude of the \cmtx

lated from the original Irish, pre- jubilee of the Jews.'
served in the copy of the Book of ^ On a journey. In Irish * fix

Hymn^ belonging to the College of turns.' Colgan understands this to

St. Isidore at Rome, which by the mean a journey for a commercial

great kindness of the Superior, the purpose : * negotii causa.' Ticnji

author was permitted to transcribe generally stgpnifies a relig^ious pilgri-

in March 1862. Colgan gives a mage. The /nitfr Wr^/ or Iccian Sra,

Latin version of it, Tr. Th. p. 4. is the English Channel. Ussher, i»-

^ Six years. The Scholiast ex- tiquitt, c. 17, (Works, vi. p. jti).
plains the six years thus, « i.e. six * Britons of Litka, 'CoBretnaib

CHAP. U.]

Bretagne or Artnorica.

361

relatives] there at that time. Now the mother of these children,
namely, Conches, was of the Franks, and she was a near relative
[slury sister] to Martin. At that time came seven sons of Sect-
maide^ King of Britain, in ships from the Britons ; and they made
great plunder on the Britons, viz., the Britons of Armuric Letha,
where Patrick with his family was, and they wounded Calpuirnn
there, and carried off Patrick and Lupait with them to Ireland.
And they sold Lupait in Conaille Muirthemne *, and Patrick in
the north of Dal-araidhe.

If this story^ be true, Bonavem Taberniae,
where, as St. Patrick himself tells us, he was
taken captive, must have been in Armoric
Britain ; and if Nemthur, the place which Fiacc
mentions as his birthplace, was another name
for Alcluaid or Dumbarton, the whole is at least
consistent.

Leteoc/ Leteoc is the adjective
formed from Z.^M/z,orLctavia. Irish
Nenniujy p. 69, and Add, notes. No.
XI. p. xix.

^ Sectmaide. This word (from sect
seven,) may be the Latin Septimius,
The word is written Factmudius in
Colgan's translation of these Scholia;
and we meet with it in the Lives un-
der the transformations of Rectmi-
tius, Fectmagius, Sectmatius, &c.
There seems no clue to the real name
or history of the chieftain who was
intended. Keating and other Irish
authors suppose the celebrated Niall
of the nine hostages to have been
the leader of the expedition, in which
Patrick was captured. See Lanigan,
who favours the same opinion, i. p.
137. O'Flaherty, Ogyg. p. 393, sq,
Ussher, Antiquitt. c. 15, (Works, vi.
p. 115). But Sechtmadius could
not have been intended as a name
for King Niall.

^ ConailU Muirthemne. These were
the tribe or people inhabitingthat part
of the present Co. of Louth, extend-
ing from the Cuailgne, or Cooley,
mountains to the Boyne. See Col-
gan's note, Tr. Th., p. 8, n. 16.

Dal-araidhe is a district in the east of
Ulster, which takes its name from
Fiacha Araidfte, King of Ulster a.d.
236. It extended from Ncwry,
Co. of Down, to Sliabh Mis, (now
Slemish) in the Co. of Antrim. See
O 'Donovan, Book of Rights y p. 21,
n. s. and p. 23, xr. x ; also Dr.
Reeves's account of Dal-aradia, EccL
Hist, of Do^wn and Connor y p. 334.

' This story. It is not worth wh|ile
to examine the alterations made in
this story by the biographers. The
second, third, and fourth Lives make
Patrick to have been captured near
Alcluaid, by a fleet of Irish pirates :
Probus and the Tripartite, repeat the
Armoric story nearly as given in
Fiacc's Scholiast, except that they
make his mother to have been killed
as well as his father. Probus (lib.
i. c. 1 2) mentions a brother of Patrick
named /?ar//,whowas carried off with
him and a sister. The Tripartite
(lib. i.e. i6)makes no mention of his
brother, but says that his two sisters
Lupita and Tigris were carried off:
and both sold in Louth J Patrick being
ignorant of his sisters' captivity, and
they of his.

^6z His own Accou7it of bis Captivity, [chap. h.
Patrick's His own narrativc, as given in the Confessio, is

own ac- 1 • 1

count of his thlS I

captivity.

I, Patrick, a sinner, the rudest and least of all the feithful,
and the most despicable among most men, had for my father Cal-
pornius a deacon, son of the late {quondam) Potitus a presbyter,
who was of the town {e vico) Bonavcm Tabemiae ; for he had
afarm(v/7/«A7OT)inthc neighbourhood, where I was taken captive.
I was then nearly sixteen years old. I knew not the true God,
and I was carried in captivity to Hiberioj with many thousands of
men, according to our deserts, because we had gone back from
God, and had not kept His commandments, and were not obe^
dient to our priests, who used to warn us for our salvation [nostram
salutem admonebant). And the Lord brought upon us the wrath
of His displeasure, and scattered us among many nations, even
unto the ends of the earth ', where now my littleness is seen
amongst aliens. And there the Lord opened the sense of my
unbelief, that even, though late, I should remember my sins, and
be converted with my whole heart unto the Lord my God, who
had regard unto my lowliness, and had compassion on my youth
and on my ignorance, and preserved me, before I knew him,
and before I could understand or distinguish between good and
evil, and protected me, and comforted me, as a Father would a
son.

There is here no historical fact except that he
was taken captive at Bonavem Taberula, when
he was sixteen years of age. He says nothing of
his birthplace, he says nothing of the murder of
his father and mother, nor of the country from
whence the pirates by whom he was captured
came. He asserts only in general terms that
he was carried to Hiberio^, the name he always
gives to Ireland, with ' many thousands of men.**

* Is this. Sir James Ware's text Patrick was of Jewish descent. See

is followed collated with the Book yita^Ja, c. i,

of Armagh. • Hiberie, See OTladierty, Qf^.

' Ends of the earth. This pas- p. 22.

sage of the Confcvsion is evidently * Thousands of mem. The Book

the origin of the absurd story that of Armagh reads, ' cum tt milii

CHAP. II.]

His various Names.

3^3

The Hymn of Fiacc tells us that the bap- His original
tismal name of St. Patrick given him by his succat.
parents was Succat : and the Scholiast adds that
the word is British S signifying ' god of war/ or
' strong in war.' We are told also that his
masters during his servitude in Ireland gave him
the name of Codraige^y or as some of the Lives
have it Quadriga ; and that St. Germain gave
him the name of MagoniuSy written Maun by
some transcribers of Nennius. But these childish
stories, and the still more childish etymologies^
proposed in explanation of these names, are un-
worthy of notice.

Why he took the name of Patrick does not why called
appear. We read indeed that he received this
name from Pope Celestine, at his consecration.

Patrick.

homlnum.' Ware makes the con-
traction tt, signify toty and corrects
milia to millibus : the ungrammatical
reading milia is probably a confusion
of some numeral letters, which the
scribe was unable to read : perhaps
the original was *cum turba vili
hominum.""

^ British. The words of the
Scholiast are * Succat, i.e. in old
British ; Deus belli, *vel fortis belli
in Latin ; for Su in British is fortis
or Deus ; Cat is bellum.^ St. Isidore
MS. (Rome). Perhaps the word .Jw is a
dialectic form of Ju, now in Welsh
Du'w, the d made /. Lanigan says
* This was an odd name for the son
of a Calphumius and the grandson
of a Potitus/ i. p. 140, meaning per-
haps that it was odd for a Christian
deacon to call his son God of war, or
Strong in war — but many things of
this kind survived from Pagan cus-
toms without being much noticed.
Was it not just as odd that Palladius
should bear a name derived from a
pagan goddess ?

* Codraige, I was once of opinion
that this word was only a Celtic
pronunciation of the word Patrick,
or Padruic, the c being substituted
for / according to a well known law
of the language. ProceeSngs Kcyal
Irish Acad, vol. vi. p. 292. My
opinion has been shaken by finding
that such eminent philologists as
Mr. W. Stokes and Dr. Siegfried do
not agree with me.

^ Etymologies. The Scholiast on
Fiacc, in a mixture of Irish and La-
tin, gives the story thus : * Multa
Patricius habuit nomina ad similitu-
dinem Romanorum nobilium; i.e.
Succat was his original name gi-
ven him in baptism by his parents.
Codriga was his name when in
slavery in Erinn. Magonius, i. e
magis agens quam ceteri monachi,
was his name when he was learning
under Germain: Patricius was his
name at his degrees [holy orders] and
it was Celestine the Comarb of Peter
who gave it to him.' S, Isidore MS,
Comp. Nennius, c. 54, 55,

and listen.

364 His Sister Liamatn. [chap. u.

But the story of his mission from Pope Celestine
is, as we have seen, open to much question.
All that is now certain is that he bore the name
of Patrick at the advanced period of his Life
when the Confessio and the Epistle to Coroticus
were written, and that by this name he is known
as the ' Apostle of Ireland.* He may have had
originally a British name Succat, and also a
Roman name Patricius} This, perhaps, was
not uncommon among the colonists who lived
in contact with the barbarous tribes at the ex-
tremities of the Roman empire,
His brothers Nothing is said in the Confession about his
brothers and sisters. But Irish tradition has
preserved the names of several of his sisters as
well as of his sisters' sons. His sister Liamain,
or Limania, is said to have married one Resti-
tutus, or Rechtitutus, a Longobard, or as others
call him Mac Ua Baird, * son of O'Baird,* or ' of
the Bard's descendant.* By him, we are told,
she had seven sons*^: the eldest of whom, Scch-
nall or Sccundinus, was Bishop of Armagh, and
author of a Hymn in praise of St. Patrick, of
which we have already spoken. There must

* Patricius. Tirechan seems to * Se*veH sons. Their names weit
have taken Patricius as a translation Sechnall, bishop; Nechtan, bishop;
of Succat. But perhaps a line has Dabonna, priest ; Moeoman, prieist;
been omitted in the MS. * Inveni Darigoc, or Rioc, bishop ; AusiUe»
quatuor nomina in libro scripta Pa- [Auxilius] bishop $ and LugiOy
tririo apud Ultanum . . . Magonus priest. Sanctil, Gemal. (Book of
qui est clarus ; Succetus qui est Lecan, fol. 49, a b), Colgan hv
Patricius : Cothirthiac quia servivit collected almost all that can be sud
.iiii. domibus magorum.'' Book of of the brethren and sistent of St. Pi-
Armagh, fol. 9. a. b. This supposes trick ; Append, V. c. 4. Tr, Tk.,
the last name to be compounded of p. 224. See also Ussher, Amtiqmtt,
Cathair four, and tech a tiouic. c. 17. (fFarks, vi. p. 3S1.)

LIE LUGNAEDON
MACCLMENUE

CHAP. II.] Tombstont of ber Son Lugnaed. 365

have been some foundation in truth for these
traditions, although treated with contempt by
many writers. This has been curiously con-
firmed by Dr. Petrie's discovery of a tombstone
of unquestionable antiquity, on the island called
hits an gbotll craibbtigb, * the Island of the Re-
ligious or Devout Foreigner,' now Inchaguile, in
Loch Corrib, county of Galway. This tomb-
stone ^ in characters which may with almost
certainty be regarded as not later than the begin-
ning of the sixth century, bears the following
inscription :

Tbe stone of Lugnaed
Son of Ltmanla.

where it will be observed that Lugnaedon is the
Celtic genitive of Lugnad or Lugna, the name
given to the youngest of the seven sons of
Liamain or Limania.^

It is quite true, as Tillemont has remarked, credibiUty
that all we know concerning the sisters of St. ^J^^
Patrick is derived from the fabulous lives^, and

* Tombstone . See Petrie, EccL therefore called the Island of the re-

Architect. of IreianJ, p. 162, sq. Vig'ious foreigner. For the history of

(Trans. R. I. Acad. vol. xx.) The his father, see Irish Book of Hymns,

author has given an accurate fac-simile p. 34, sq.

of the inscription, p. 1 64, where see his ^ Fabulous lives. Tillemont, /////.

very valuable remarks upon this dis- Eccl. torn. xvi. p. 470, and sec also

covery, and upon the character of Lanigan, i. c. 3, sect. 18, p. 125.

the ruined church near which the Both these writers refer to a passage

stone lies. in the Epist. to Coroticus, where St.

^ Limania. The name on the Patrick, as they say *has plainly
stone is Lmenue (genitive of Lia- told us,' — nous assure lui-meme —
main), for Limenue \ perhaps there that none of his relations were with
was originally attached to the foot him in Ireland. — But the words do
of the L, a small /, which is now not necessarily mean more than that,
obliterated. Lugnad was probably when he devoted himself to the con-
born on the continent, and tne island version of the Irish, he separated him-
in which he resided, and died, was self from his own famdy : and he

366 Patrick's Condition in Captivity. [cHAP.n.

is therefore suspicious. It is also quite true
that there is great confusion as to the names of
these sisters^ and of their sons. No doubt their
history is full of fable and all sorts of blunders.
But Dr. Pctrie's discovery shews that we ought
to use great caution in dogmatically rejecting as
fable all that we find even in the midst of the
most silly legend. The facts are doubtless over-
laid with childish stories : but let us beware lest,
if we cast out the rubbish without sifting, we
should cast out also precious stones which have
long lain concealed in the mass.
His con- Of his condition and adventures during his

djdon in his . . . , , ^

captivity, captivity in Ireland St. Patrick gives us an in-
teresting account in the Confessio: premising
that he did so for the sake of making known
God's grace and everlasting consolation^ to
spread the knowledge of God*s Name ; as well as
to leave it on record after his death to his

might have said this even though his or following century. LamgOMf u

sisters had afterwards foliowed him 127.

to Ireland. 'Numquid sine Deo, vel ' OmsoUuiom. This is one of thoie
secundum camem Hiberionem veni ? passages which the scribe of the B.
Quis me compulit } Allieatus sum of Armagh has marked as obscure
hpiritu ut non videam aliquem de in the original MS., writing in the
cognatione mea.* ViUanue<vay p. margin the words 'Incertus liber.*
243. The allusion is evidently to The text is Mn mensura itaquefidei
Gen. xii. i. Trinitatis oportet distingruere sine
^ Sisters, The coniiision is pro- reprehensione periculi notum fivere
bably greatly increased by the loose donum Dei et consolationem xter-
use of the word SiuTy or sister, by nam sine timore fiduciaiiter Dei no-
Irish writers. It is applied to nieces, men ubique expandere, ut etiam post
cousins, and often to sisters in reli- obitum meum ex a Gallias \ruJ
gion. Errors of transcription of extra Gallias] relinquere fratribus,
proper names abound in all Irish et filiis meis quos in Domino bapci-
MSS., and add to the confusion, zavi.* Fol. 23, a a. Ware reads,
But it is clear from the dates assigned 'post obitum meum Gallicis relin*
to their deaths, that some of those auere fratribus;* the Bollandists omit
who are said to have been sisters of the word GaUicu^ but otherwise fbl-
St. Patrick belonged to the sixth low Ware.

CHAP. II.] His Return to bis native Country. g6y

brethren out of Gaul, and to his sons whom he
had baptised in the Lord. He was employed
when he came to Hiberio, as he always calls
Ireland, in tending cattle daily ; but was every
day frequent in prayer^: thus, he says, the love
and fear of God and faith increased so much, and
the spirit of prayer so grew upon him, that often
in a single day he would say an hundred prayers^,
and in the night almost as many, so that he fre-
quently arose to prayer in the woods and moun-
tains before daylight, in snow and frost and rain :
' and I felt no evil,' he adds, ^ nor was there any
laziness (pigritia) in me, because, as I now see,
the Spirit was burning within me/

One night, as he tells us, he heard in a dream His escape
a voice saying to him, ' Thy fasting is well : thou xi^^J^d
shalt soon return to thy country/ He waited ^rMtWc
some time, and again had a dream, in which the "*^^'
same voice told him that the ship was ready, but
was distant two hundred miles.^ Although he
had never been to the place, and knew nothing
of the inhabitants, he fled from his master, with
whom he had been in slavery for six years^; * and

' Prayer, This is a clear proof be meant, he must have travelled
that when he said, * Deum verum from Dal-aradia to the S.W. coast of
ignorabam,' he is not to be under- Ireland. But the number is probably-
stood too literally. Tillemont's re- exaggerated by errors of transcrip-
mark is just : * non qu'il ne fiist tion. Lanigan, on the strength of
Chretien, comme cela paroist assez this passage, makes our saint travel
par la suite, mais parcequ'il n'avoit from Dal-aradia to Bantry bay. EccL
p:i8 encore cette foi animee de la Hist, i. p. 146, note (42). The
charite qu'il Teust dii avoir, &c.' Scholiast on Fiacc (n. 9) makes the
Mtm. EccL xvi. p. 456. distance * 60 miles, or as others say,

- Prayers. Or collects ; orationes, a hundred,' shewing that the MSS.

3 T-wo hundred miUs. In the B. even then had various readings.
of Armagh * cc. milia passus.' If * Six years. There is nothing

the ordinary miles of five to a league here of the nonsense, that it was the

368

His Reception by the Sailors. [chap. u.

I went/ he adds, ' in the power of the Lord, who
directed my way for good^ and I feared nothing
until I arrived at that ship/ The captain of the
ship, however, roughly refused him a passage,
and Patrick was about to return to the hut^
where he dwelt, first offering up a prayer, as was
his wont. His prayer was not finished, when
one of the sailors called to him, saying, * Come
back quickly, for these men call thee/ He re-
turned, and they said to him, 'Come, for we
receive thee in faith, make friends with us how
thou wilt:' meaning, perhaps, that they were
willing to receive him without passage money, in
the faith that in some other way he might find
the means of remunerating them. What follows
is very obscure^, but seems to signify that he was
surprised to hear them speak of faith, seeing they

custom of the pagan natives of the
country to manumit their slaves, at
the end of six years, after the man-
ner of the Jubilee of the Jews. Sec
above, p. 360. n, 2.

* For good, * Dirigebat ad bonum.'
fVare and B. of Armagh, The Bol-
landists read, *Veni ad Benum^
which they suppose to mean the
Boyne. But the other reading is
preferable. The Boyne is always
Boindtu, The Scholiast on Fiacc
makes the mouth of the Boyne the
place where Patrick embarked, TV.
rh.y p. 4. n. 9.

' Hut. * Ad tuguriolum ubi hos-
pitaham :' * to the hut where I used
to dwell ' — in othei words, he was
about to return to his master; so
Tillemont understands it, perhaps
rightly, * ain>i il retourna en priant
a sa cabane, au hazard d'estre mal-
traitc de son maistre,' uhi supra^ p.
457. Or it might mean that he re-

turned to the cabin where he had
been received as a guest by some
peasant in the neighbourhood of the
port.

» Obscure. The Book of Arnu^k
readsy ' £t in ilia die itaque reppuli
sugere mammellas eorum propter ti-
morem Dei. Sed venimtainen ab
illis speravi venire in fidem Jeso
Christi quia Gentes erant, et ob hoc
obtinui cum illis. * Fol. 13, m^k.
Ware reads, < Et in ilia die repuli
fugere, propter timorem Dei. Verun-
tamen speravi ab illis, ut mihi dice-
rent, Veni in fide Jesu Christi, auia

fentes erant,' p. 7. The BoUandists
ave < Et in ilia die debui sumre in
navem eorum propter Deunu Verun-
tamen [the editor adds non] sperafi
ab illis ut mihi dicercnt, Veni in fide
Christi, quia Gentiles erant. Et hor
obtinui cum illis, et protinus navi-
gavimus.* Fillan, p. 191.

CHAP. II.] His Travels in the Desert. 369

were Pagans, but went with them the more
readily in consequence of their having used that
word, hoping that they might come over to the
faith of Jesus Christ,

They were three days at sea, and afterwards
twenty-eight days wandering in a desert^ until
their provisions ran short. No doubt, Patrick
had been speaking to them of the power of God,
of the efficacy of prayer, and of trust in God's
Providence. The leader of the party therefore
said to him, ^ What sayest thou. Christian ?
Thy God is great and all powerful. Why then
canst thou not pray to Him for us ? for we perish
with hunger, and we can find here no inhabi-
tants.' Patrick answered, ^ Turn ye in faith to
my Lord God, to whom nothing is impossible,
and He will send you food, and ye shall be satis-
fied, for He has abundance everywhere.' And
so it was, for a herd of swine soon after appeared,
many of which they killed. Patrick and his

^ Desert. Lanigan argues that three davs' voyage carried our saint to

three days would be about the time the north ofScotiand, accounts for the

usually taken for sailing from Bantry existence of a waste there by the ra-

Bay to some port on the coast of vages of the Picts and Scots. Mem,

Armoric Britain : and appeals to £fr/fj. xvi. p. 457. The lesson in the

the lessons of a Breviary prmted &t Rheims Breviary alludes to the story

Rheims in 161 2 (reprinted by Col- of St. Kienan told by the Scholiast on

gan, TV. T/f., p. X94), where it is Fiacc, ^r, Th.y p. 4, n. 9. When

said that Patrick was sold by a cer- Patrick had fled from his master he

tain Irishman, to merchants of Gaul, came to the south bank of the Boyne ;

who carried him to Treguier ; * ad there a man named Kienan seized

Trecorensem minoris Britannia? civ- him and sold him to some sailors 5

itatem.' But such an authority is but repenting of this deed, he soon

too modern to be of any value. The after procured his liberation. At a

existence in Britanny of a waste subsequent period Kienan was bap-

which took twenty-seven days to tized by Patrick, and founded the

cross, is accounted tor by the ravages church or monastery of Daimhliac-

of the Franks and Saxons on the Kienain, now Duleek, in the county

coasts of Armorica. EccL Hut. i. 150, of Meath. See Mart, ofDonegal^ at

152. Tillemont, who thinks that the 24 Nov.

B B

S7o Suggested Explanation of [chap.u.

companions were relieved from their hunger, and
remained in that place for two nights. * After
this/ he says, * they gave great thanks to God,
and I was honoured in their eyes.*

They found also some wild honey, and gave
Patrick a portion of it, but because one of them
had said, 'This is an offering; thank God,'^
Patrick would not taste of it, fearing lest it
had been offered to an idoL
Hii night- The same night an event occurred which, he

marc and "

the invoca- savs, hc could ncvcr forget, * cuius memor cro
quamdm fucro m hoc corpore. He had a
night-mare, which he believed to be a temptation
of Satan. He felt as if a great stone had fallen
upon him ; he was unable to move a limb : and
he says, ' how it came into my mind to call out
Helias I know not, but at that moment I saw
the sun rising in the heavens, and whilst I cried
out Helias ! Helias ! with all my might, lo, the
brightness of the sun fell upon me and straight-
way removed all the weight. And I am per-
suaded that I was relieved by Christ my Lord,
and that His Spirit then cried out for mc. And
I trust it may be so in the day of my trouble,
for the Lord saith in the Gospel^ " It is not yc
that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which
spcakcth in you." '

It is strange that this curious anecdote should

* TAank God. * Et unus ex illis gods, and therefore would not eat of

dixit, Immolatitium est, Dcd gratias.' the honey, i Cor. viii. lo — it, and

B. oj Armagh^ fol. ij, b. a, Patrick cf. i Sam. xiv. a6.

prubably thought that this Gentile ' GosftL St. Malt x. »o.
must have meant one of his own

CHAP. II.] bts Invocation of Elias. 371

have been taken as a proof that St. Patrick prac- Not an in-

,, . . V,. iTri« vocation of

tiscd the invocation of saints. It this was an saints.
invocation of a saint, and if it was the custom of
the time to invoke saints, and more particularly
to invoke Helias as a saint, why did St. Patrick
say, ' I know not how it came into my mind to
call upon HeUas?' Do not these words very
clearly prove that to invoke saints, or at least to
invoke Helias, was a somewhat unusual thing in
St. Patrick's time ?

It has been suggested, from the allusion to the
sun, which immediately follows the mention of
Helias, that it was not Helias the prophet, whom
Patrick invoked, but Helios, the Sun^ ; and this
would certainly account for his saying, * I know
not how it came into my mind to do so ;' but
the still greater difficulty will remain, how a
Christian could have invoked the Sun.

The true reading of this passage is probably Eii,not
not Elias, or Helias, or the Sun, but £//, ' my ^^'elding.
God;' which the copyists, not being able to
understand, made Helias. We have an instance
of the use of this Hebrew Name of God, shewing
that it was not unknown to the Irish, in the Hymn

^ Invocation of saints. Dr. Lani- and was never invoked as a saint.

gan was weak enough to say, * This The festival of Elias on Mount

will, I believe, be admitted to be a Carmel, which occurs in the present

sufficient proof, that St. Patrick con- Roman Breviary (July 20), cannot

sidered the invocation of saints as be older than the 14th or 15th cen-

commendable and salutary,' i. p. tury : although in the Greek church

155. So far from being a sufficient it probably dates from the xoth cen-

proof, this is no proof at all j if tury. See Baillet, ries des Saints,

Patrick called upon Elias, bespeaks tom. i. p. 179, jo. Paris, 1739.

of it as an unusual thing. Elias is re- ' TAe Sun. Kin?*s Church His-

garded by the Church as still living, tory 0/ Ireland, vol. 1. p. 48.

B B 2

37 2 -E//, the true Reading. [chap. n.

of St. Hilary in praise of Christ, which has
been published by Muratori from the Irish Anti-
p honary of Bangor, and which occurs also in the
Irish Book of Hymns.^ The lines are these : —

' Tu Dei de corde Verbum, Tu Via, Tu Veritas,
Jesse Virga Tu vocaris, Te Leonem legimus,
Dextra Patris, Mons, et Agnus, Angularis Tu lapis,
Sponsus idem, el, Columba, Flamma, Pastor, Janua/

These verses contain an enumeration of the
Titles of Christ: the Word in the Bosom of
the Father, the Way, the Truth, the Rod of
Jesse, the Lion of Judah, the Right Hand of
the Father, the Mount, the Lamb, the Corner
Stone, the Bridegroom, El, the Dove, the
Flame, the Pastor, the Door.

It is therefore not improbable that Patrick
may have known the word El as a name of
God" or of Christ, and in his distress may •have
cried out Eli, Eli. His knowledge of the
Gospels^ would of itself have made him ac-
quainted with the exclamation * Eli, Eli,' with-
out supposing him to have had any oriental
learning; especially as wc find that the name
was applied to Christ, in the antient Hymn just
quoted.*

' Book of Hymns, See * Hymnu5 ' Vanu rfG§d. Comp. the Hthui

S. Hilarii in Laud^m Christi/ Book of Hildebert, Bishop of Le Mitfv

of Hymns y p. 152, and note ; where (iith century), published by Uaiher,

El is shown to be the true reading. De Symbotisy (Works, vij. p. 359)

Muratori reads *veL This hymn is It begins

attributed to St. Hilarv of Poictiers, Alpha ct H, nugnc Drui»

and therefore probably came from £U, Eli, Deut meut, ftc.

the Galliran church. But it is not ' Gospels, St. Matt, xxrii. 46. St.

published in the Benedictine Ed. of Mark xv. 34.

St. Hilary's works. < S^wied. If we reject this eipU-

Ireland.

CHAP. II.] St. Patrick's Master in Dalaradia. ^y^

In confirmation of this conjecture it is remark-
able that both in the second and third Lives ^
Patrick is represented as having cried out £//,
not Elias. It is true the biographers, and even
Colgan, evidently understood the vv^ord to signify
Elias, overlooking its real meaning as an invoca-
tion of God, sanctioned by our Lord Himself in
the Gospel. But the text of the Confessio
from which they copied must have had £//, not
Elias.

Patrick in the Confessio speaks but once of st. Pa-
thc master whom he served in his captivity. ' I m^tCT in
took to flight,' he says, ^ and left the man with
whom I had been for six years.* ^ He does not
name ^ the man,' nor mention his rank or situa-
tion in life. But these omissions are amply sup-
plied by later writers. His name, we are told,

nation, and adhere to the reading The Irish writer apparently under-
which makes Patrick call upon the stood Eli to mean Elias, and so
prophet Elias, we may suppose him to Colgan translates it. 7r. Th.^ p. 1 7,
have done so influenced by the antient n. 22. The third Life (c. 1 7), says
belief of the Church, that Elias was * Turn Patricius vocavit Eli, in ad-
to come literally, in person, accord- jutorium suum trina voce j venitque
ing to the prophecy of Malachi, and Eli et liberavit cum.' It is pro-
restore all things, before the great bable, therefore, that the MSS. of
and terrible Day of the secondcoming the Confession, which these writers
of the Lord. He may therefore, with had before them, read Eli, and
this prophecy in mind, have called they interpreted it HeliaSy falling
out, as he says, without knowing into a very natural mistake. Pro-
why, Hellas, Hellas. And his men- bus says nothing of the invo-
tion of the sun immediately after- cation of Helias, but tells us that
wards may have had reference to the Patrick when he awoke signed him-
prophecy of the Sun of Righteous- self with the sicm of the cross,
ness, which occurs in the same chapter and then called fliree times upon
of Malachi, just before the prediction Christ the true Sun. — * Et cum trina
of the coming of Elias. (Mai. iv. 5, voce Christum Solem vcrum invo-
6, and ver. 2.) cassct, statim ortus est ei Sol, &c.'

* Lives. In the second Life the Lib. i. c. 8. (Tr,n,, p. 51.)
words are retained in the Irish Ian- * Six years. * Conversus sum in

guage, c. 20, * ro guidh Eli dia in- fugam, et intermissi hominem cum

darput uadh.' * He prayed Eli to [quo] fucram vi. annis.^ ff^are^

expel it [i.e. the stone] from him.* Opusc. S. Patricii. p. 6.

374 J^f^ Escape from Mtlcbu. [chap. u.

was Miliuc, Michul or Milchu^: his tribe or
family'^ was the Dal-Buain, clan or descendants of
Buan of Dalaradia ; the Scholiast on Fiacc tells us
that he was * King of North Dalaradia and that
he dwelt in Arcuil/ a valley in the north of Da-
laradia near Mount Mis, now Slemish. This is
now called the valley of the Braid, from the
river Braighde or Braid^ which flows through it,
and the spot where St. Patrick had the dream or
vision, which induced him to fly from his master,
is marked by the ruins of an antient church
called Sciric or Skiric Arcaile, now Skerry*, on
a basaltic hill, where, according to the tradition
mentioned by Fiacc, the angel Victor appeared
to St. Patrick and left the impression of his feet.
The later biographers represent Milchu as a
savage tyrant, deeply rooted in Paganism, and
Tircchan calls him a magus^y or Druid. But
there is nothing of all this in the Confcssio.
His second Patrick at the time when he escaped from

captivity , *

apocryphal. Milchu was twcuty-two years of age ; for he

» Milchu, The Hymn of Fiacc, » Brmd. Sec Reeves, EccL Am,

(st. 4) calls Patrick < ?niad Milchon/ of Dtnvn and Comhot, p. 1 3, 345.
sia^ of Milchu. The Scholiast, on * Skerry, Schol. on Fiacc, ouotcd

the word Milchon, says * Genitivum by Reeves, ib, Vit. Trip. i. 11.

est hie. Michul m* hui Buain ri The word Sciric signifies rocky. It

tuaiscirt Dalaraide.* The tran&Ia- is worthy of note, that St. Patrick,

tion of this is : — 'Milchon is here the in the Confession, speaks only of a

genitive. Michul MacHy Buain, was dream. The apparition of an angel

king of North Dabradia.' •S'. Isidore is the embellisninent of later writen.

MS. {Rome). The allusion to this tradition s

' Family, * Dal-Buanica familia,* fatal to the claim of Fiacc^t poem

says Colgan, * olim in Ultonia ccle- to antiquity.

bris, licet hodie ignota et extincta/ ^ Magus, Ussher, Primord, p.

From this tribe descended the cele- 829. (Works, vi. p. jt/.) Probus

brated St. Maccarthen of Clogher, (i. 22) calls him < quendam gentikm

and many other saints. Actt, SS, p. immitem regem." Jocclin^ ' tcguliH

740, sq. paganib&imus,* c. 1 3.

CHAP. II.] His second Captivity. 375

tells us that he was sixteen when he was taken
captive, and spent six years in slavery. He
remained with the sailors, who had given him a
passage after his escape from Milchu, sixty days
or two months. Probus and others have under-
stood this of a second captivity: and there is
certainly some obscurity^ in the MSS. Patrick
very probably regarded his sojourn with the
sailors as a second captivity — that in Ireland with
Milchu being the first. The Book of Armagh
seems to say that of the sixty days twenty-eight
were passed in the desert, and ten after the drove
of swine had supplied them with food. Perhaps
the remainder of his time with them was spent
under compulsion, and so was a real captivity :

' On that sixtieth night ' (he says) * the Lord delivered me from
their hands. And even on our road He provided us with food
and fire, and dry weather [siccitatem)^ until on the tenth* day we
arrived at men ' [i.e. at human habitations] ; ' having travelled, as
I have said, above eight and twenty days through a desert ; and
the very night when we arrived at men, we had no more food.'

^ Obscurity. The Book of 348, note i. The summary of St.
Armagh, as its text stands, is Patrick's acts, by Muirchu Maccu-
here corrupt and unintelligible. machtheni,evidently took for granted
• Multos adhuc capturam dedi ea that the captivity of sixty days was
nocte prima itaque mansi cum illis : a second captivity : and so it was if
responsum autem divinum audivi . the captivity under Miliuc in Ireland
duobus autem mensibus eris cum was the first. Two of the headings
illis, quod ita factum est.* But the of chapters in the summary of Mac-
text printed by the BoUandists has cumacntheni, (Book of Armagh, fol.
evidently introduced violent alter- 20, b.) are as follows : * De navieio
ations to mend this confusion, first ejus cum gentibus, et vexadone dis-
hy transposing the passage mentioned erti, cibo sibi gentilibus divinitus
above ; and then by reading * Et delato j' and * De secunda captura
itcrum post annos [non] multos ad- quam senis decies diebus ab inimicis
hue in capturam decidi : nocte vero pertulerat.'

prima mansi cum illis. Responsum * Tenth, Ware, (p. 9,) and the
uutem, kc: This is one of the pas- BoUandists it^A fourteenth, (Villa-
sages marked by z, in the margin of nueva, p. 193.)
the Book of Armagh. See above p.

^y6 His Return to bis Parents. [chaf.u.

This passage has been transposed and placed
before the mention of the sixty days in the copy
of the Confessio printed by the Bollandists.
But if we adhere to the text of the Book of
Armagh, as we now have it, there is no mention
of a second captivity^ except in the sense that
has been explained : the meaning seems to be
that he was sixty days altogether in the hands of
the mariners with whom he had sailed from
Ireland.
His return Hc procccds to tcll US that * aftcr a few years *
famUy. hc was with his parents in the Britanniae;
^ post paucos annos in Britanniis eram cum
parentibus meis.' But we are not obliged to
understand the word parents of his father and
mother ; there is therefore no necessary contra-
diction between this passage and the legend that
his father and mother had been killed long
before. Still we must remember that the
murder of his father and mother is not recorded
in the Confession, and that the Scholiast^ on Fiacc
mentions his father as having been wounded only,
not killed, and says nothing of his mother.

' SecoMJ captivitf. Still less of a and sojourn in the islands of the

third, which rests altogether on the Tyrrhene sea. Even Lanigan admits

authority of Probus, and of which ' it is exceedingly difficult, and I be-

Ussher says, * non parum mihi sus- lieve impossible, to arrange oonecdy

pecta est.* fVorksyVi, p. 390. Of either as to chronological order or

the other stories here interpolated by topographical accuracy, the succeed-

Probus, of Patrick having converted ing transactions of his life, until near

the mariners and their countrymen, the time of his mission,* i. p. 161.

and of his travels on the continent The reason of the difficulty is oorioos.

of Europe, there is not a word in Almost all those transactions arc

the Confession. It is evident that groundless fictions, or facts tnnsfcrrtd

the chronologyr of the Confession from the acts of I^ladius to Patrick.

leaves no time for his four years with ' Scholiast, The paraage b quoted

St. Martin, forty with St. Germain, above p. 361.

CHAP. II.] His Divine Call to convert the Irish, ^yy

His parents, he tells us, received him as a son,
and earnestly besought^ him not to expose him-
self to fresh dangers, but to remain with them
for the rest of his life.

Patrick, however, felt constrained to devote Hiscaiito
himself to the conversion of the Irish, amongst h^!^
whom he had spent so many years of his youth,
and whose language he had doubtless acquired.
He says nothing of Palladius. He says nothing
of Rome, or of having been commissioned by
Pope Celestine. He attributes his Irish apostle-
ship altogether to an inward call, which he
regarded as a Divine command. He tells us
that he had a dream, which he thus describes : —

' And there,' he says [namely in the Britannix, with his
parents] ' in the dead of night ^, I saw a man ' coming to me
as if from Hiberio^ whose name was Victoricus^ bearing innu-
merable epistles. And he gave me one of them, and I read
the beginning of it, which contained the words ^ ' The voice of
the Irish,' Vox Hiberionacum. And whilst I was repeating the
beginning of the epistle, I imagined that I heard in my mind
(in mente), the voice of those who were near the wood of
Foclut^ which is near the Western Sea. And thus they cried :
* We pray thee, holy youth, to come, and henceforth walk
amongst us.' And I was greatly pricked in heart, and could
read no more ; and so I awoke. Thanks be to God, that after
very many years the Lord granted unto them the blessing for
which they cried : (praestitit illis Dominus secundum clamorem
illorum).'

^ Besought. * Qui me ut filium sus- Ware^ p. 9. ' In visu dc nocte,'

ciperunt(j/V) et ex fide rogaverunt me, ViUaniu*vay p. 1 94.
ut vel modo ego, post tantas tribuia- ' A man. Not an angel, as the

tiones quas ego pertuli, nusquam ab Lives all have it. The name oi Vic-

illis discederem.* Book of Armaghy toTy given by the leeend writers to

fol. 23, b. b. St. Patrick *s guardian angel, has

^ Drad of night, * In sinu noctis,' evidently been derived from this

Book of Armagh, ' In visu nocte,' passage.

gyS His second Vision. [chap. n.

' Again on another night, I know not, God knoweth, whether
it was within me or near me, I heard distinctly words which I
could not understand, except that at the end of what was said,
there was uttered, ' He who gave His Life for thee, is He who
speaketh in thee.' And so I awoke rejoicing. And again I
saw in myself one praying, and I was as it were within my
body, and I heard him, that is to say, upon my inner man, and
he prayed there mightily with groanings. And meanwhile I
was in a trance {stupebam)^ and marvelled, and thought who it
could be who thus prayed within me. But at the end of the
prayer, he became so changed {efficiatus est) that he seemed
to be a bishop.^ And so I awoke, and recollected the apostle's
words, The Spirit helpeth the infirmity of our prayer. For we
know not what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself
maketh intercession for us, with groanings that cannot be uttered,
which cannot be expressed in words. And again *, The Lord
our advocate intercedeth for us.*

There is nothing in all this which is not quite
consistent with the feelings of an enthusiastic
mind, filled with the holy ambition of convert-
ing to Christ the barbarous nation amongst
whom he had been in captivity. There is no
incredible or absurd miracle. He believed, no
doubt, that his call was supernatural, and that
he had seen visions and dreamt dreams. But
other well-meaning and excellent men, in all
ages of the Church, have in like manner
imagined themselves to have had visions of this
kind, and to have been the recipients of imme-
diate revelations.
Another Hc thcn gocs ou to dcscribc another vision,

Vision.

^ A bishop. * Sed ad postremum Ghost. The contractions eps, ind

orationis, sic efficiatus est ut sit sps. were easily confounded in the

episcopus.* Book rf Armagh, Ware MSS.

and tne Bollandists read, perhaps ^ Again. The texts alluded to

rightly, ' Sic etfatus est ut sit are Heb. viii. 26, and perhaps 1 John

Spiritus,' that He was the Holy ii. i.

CHAP. II.] His Intention opposed. ^yg

which decided him to persevere in his intention
of going to Ireland ; he says :

' I saw in a vision of the night, there was a writing* oppo-
site to my face without honour. And then I heard an answer
unto me : We have seen unfortunately the fece of one designa-
ted without a name. He did not say, thou hast unfortunately
seen, but, we have unfortunately seen ; as if He had included
Himself, as He said. He that toucheth you toucheth the apple
of mine eye [Zech. ii. 8.]. Therefore I give thanks to Him
who hath comforted me in all things and did not hinder me from
the journey I had resolved upon, nor from my labour which I
had dedicated to my Lord Christ. But on the contrary, I felt
no small power from Him, and my feith was proved before God
and men. Wherefore, I boldl/ say, my conscience reproves
me not here nor hereafter.'

This seems to allude to the circumstance that
his design of returning to Ireland was opposed
by his relatives, and that he was compelled to go
' without honour ' and ' without a name.' But
the voice, which he regarded as a Divine oracle,
having used the plural number, Patrick, for the
reason stated, considered the vision as an appro-
bation of his design, and immediately devoted
himself to the missionary life. The obscurities
of the passage are mainly due to errors of tran-
scription in the manuscripts.

Wc have already remarked that Patrick must The con-
have written the Confession towards the close of w^tten at
his life, and after he had seen much fruit from ws^^i^"^
his labours. The following passages from the

* IVriting. It Is difficult to under- sum dicentem [jiV] mihi, male audi-
stand or translate this. The original vimus [Ware and Bolland. read 'vi-
words are, * Vidi in visu noctis scrip- dimus^ faciem designati nudato no-
turn erat contra faciem meam sine mine, &c. Book of Armaghy fol. 24,
honore. £t inter hxc audivi respon- a.a. Ware, p. 11.

380 Success of bis Mission. [chaf.u.

Armagh text of the work will enable the reader
to judge for himself: —

^ I am greatly a debtor to God, who hath vouchsafed me such
great grace, that many people by my means should be bom
again to God : and that clergy should be ordained every where
for them, for the people who had lately come to the fiadth ; for
the Lord hath taken them from the ends of the earth, as He
had promised of old by His prophets : ' The Gentiles shall
come unto Thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say.
Surely our Others have inherited lies, vanity, and there is no
profit in them/ [Jer. xvi. 19]. And again, *I have given
thee as a light to the Gentiles that thou mayest be for salvation,
even unto the end of the earth.* [Is. xlix. 6.] And there I
desire to wait for the promise of Him who never &ileth : as
He promiseth in the Gospel, ' They shall come from the East
and from the West, and shall sit down with Abraham, and
Isaac, and Jacob' [Matt. viii. ii] : as we believe that be-
lievers shall come from the whole world.'

Again he says : —

* Whence comes it that in Hiberioy those who never had any
knowledge of God, and up to the present time worshi{q)ed
only idols and abominations {tJula et inmunda) : how are they
lately become the people of the Lord, and are called the sons
of God? The sons of Scots* and daughters of chieftains
[regulorum) appear now as monks and virgins of Christ.'

This passage^ is one of the most remarkable
evidences of the antiquity of the Tract. It
must have been written when the very name of

> Scots, The Book of Armagh speaking of the whole nadon. It

reads Sanctorum, (M. 24, b. a.) ; but may* be added, that he speaks of the

the context favours the reading Scot- * fiiii Scottorum and filiae regulorum,*

torum, * Sanctorum ' is an evident as belonc^ng to the nobility or higher

mistake. Tliis pa.s.sage, it has been ranks of the people : and in fibctthe

said, proves that all the inhabitants kin^ and chieftains were almost all

of Ireland were not at that time of the Scotic or Milesian race.

called Scots, (Lamgan, vol. i. p. • This fassagi. See Ware, p. x6.

235) because the author elsewhere Book of Armagh^ io\ 14, b^.
uses the term Hibcrionaces, when

CHAP. II.] Conclusion of the Confession. 381

Scots, and of reguli, or chieftains, was almost
synonymous with pagans. It must have been
written after Patrick had made many converts,
and after the monastic life had been established
by him in Ireland. But it is immediately fol-
lowed by a passage in which the author is made
to say,

' Especially one blessed Scottish lady, una benedicta Scottay
of noble birth and of great beauty, who was adult, and whom I
baptised.'

We know not who the lady here alluded to
was/ She came, however, we are told, of her
own accord to Patrick and his followers, saying
that she had received a message from God,
commanding her to remain a virgin of Christ,
that she might be nearer to God. Others also
had done the same, even at the cost of enduring
persecution from their parents or relations. But
nothing of all this is to be found in the Book of
Armagh.

Patrick concludes the Confession thus : —

' But I pray those who believe and fear God, whosoever
may condescend to look into or receive this writing (scripturam)
which Patrick the sinner, although unlearned, wrote in Hiberioj

^ IVas. See Dr. Viilanueva's note, has also been suggested. She was

(20) p. 234. It is very probable at least a * nobUis Scotta,' being

that the mention of this noble lady the daughter of Eochaidh, prince

in the Confessio is the foundation of the Oirghialla, who lived near

of what we read in the Lives, about Clogher. Sut neither of these saints

St. Cethuberis, Cechtumbria, Cecta- is mentioned in the Irish gcne-

maria, or Ethembria, (for she is vari- aloeies. The name of Cinne occurs

ou^ly described by all these names), in the later calendars at Feb. i, but

who, as Jocelin (c. 79), tells us, was the Martyrol. of Tallaght has 'Cinni

* the first of all the Irish virgins to sacerdoris,' instead of Cinne*virginis,'

receive the veil from St. Patrick.' on that day. Colgan has collected

Her name, in whatever form we take all that the Lives otSt. Patrick say of

it, is not Irish. S. Cinne or K'nnia her, at Feb. i. Actt, SS, p. 134.

382

Tilletnonfs Judgment.

[chap. u.

Tillcmont's
judgment
on the
Confession*

if I have done or established any little thing according to God's
will, that no man ever say that my ignorance did it, but think
ye and let it be verily believed that it was the gift of God.' *

Tillemont knew the Confessio only from the
copy printed by the BoUandists : he was not
aware of the shorter form of its text which is
preserved in the Book of Armagh, and therefore
could pass no judgment on the authenticity of
what we have called the interpolated passages.
But his judgment upon the work as he had it, in
its more complete form, is just, and may be
here quoted. ^ It was written,* he says ^ * to give
glory to God for the great grace which the
author had received, and to assure the people of
his mission, whom he addressed, that it was
indeed God Himself who had sent him to preach
to them the Gospel ; to strengthen their faith,
and to make known to all the world that the
desire of preaching the Gospel, and of having a
part in its promises, was the sole motive which
had induced him to go to Ireland. He had
long intended to write, but had always deferred

* Gift of God, The text is so cor-
rupt that some licence has been taken
in the attempt to translate it. The
words are * Sed precor credentibus et
timentibus Deum, quicumque digna-
tus fiierit inspicere vel recipere hanc
scripturam quam Patricius peccator,
indoctus scilicet, Hiberione conscrip-
sit, ut nemo umquam dicat quod mea
ignorantia, si aliquid pusillum egi
vel demonstraverim secundum [Dei
placitum], sed arbitramini et ve-
rissime credatur quod donum Dei
fuisset. Et hxc est Confessio mea
antequam moriar/ Book of Armagh^

fol . 24 b.a. The words within brackett
are added bjr Ware, and occur also in
the Boliandist copy. Opposite to the
word < secundum,* where there it 1
manifest defecTy occurs the letter % in
the nuurgrin of the B. of Armagh,
which as we have already mentioMd,
marks always something which the
scribe found to be difficult or obscure
in the original. See p. 34S, note. Br
*• mea ignorantia,' he means himself.
It is the same sort of phrase is ' hu-
militas mea,* 'pusillitas mem,* &c.

^ He swfs, Tillemont, Mem. £cd.
(S, Patrice)^ anri. p. 463. (Art. ti.)

CHAP. II.] The Epistle on Coroticus. 383

doing so, fearing lest what he wrote should
be ill received amongst men, because he had
not learned to write well, and what he had
learned of Latin was still further corrupted by
intermixture with the Irish language.^ It must
be admitted that the Latin of this Tract is very
bad, insomuch that there are many places where
it is difficult to make out the sense, even after
every allowance for the mistakes of trans-
cribers. But on the whole this work is full of
good sense, and even of intellect and fire, and,
what is better, it is full of piety. The saint
exhibits throughout the greatest humility, with-
out, however, lowering the dignity of his
ministry. He had also a great desire of martyr-
dom, even though his body were destined to be
caten^ by birds and beasts. In a word, we see in
the Tract much of the character of St. Paul.
The author was undoubtedly well read in the
Scriptures.'

In the Epistle on the outrages of Coroticus, TheEpUtie
Patrick claims and exercises the highest spiritual dcus. '^
function of the episcopal office by cutting off an
unworthy member from the communion of the
Church. His first remonstrance with the robber
chieftain was treated with contempt ; and the
deputation of clergy who brought it to Coroticus

^ IrisA language. This is the in- lata est in linguam alienam,* may

terpretation which the Bollandists possibly bear that meaning. See

have put upon the passage here re- above, p. 311.

ferred to. St. Patrick says nothing ' Eaten, The passag^e referred to

of the Irish language, but the words occurs sect. 23, (Villanueva, p. 208) ;

* Nam sermo et lingua nostra trans- but it is not in the Book of Armagh.

384 The Epistle on Coroticus. [chaf. u.

was dismissed with ridicule and insult.^ Patrick
therefore wrote * with his own hand*^ the
Epistle, which we still possess, to be given and
sent to the soldiers of Coroticus 2 —

' Soldiers ' (he says), * whom I no longer call my fellow
citizens, or citizens of the Roman saints, but fellow citizens of
the devils, in consequence of their evil deeds ; who live in
death, after the hostile rite of the barbarians ; associates of the
Scots and Apostate Picts \ desirous of glutting themselves with
the blood of innocent Christians, multitudes of whom I have
begotten in God and confirmed in Christ.'

This remarkable passage must have been
written whilst the alliance between the Picts
and still pagan Scots of Argyleshire and Ireland
was in existence : and it is remarkable that the
Picts are spoken of as apostate^ implying that
they had been at least once nominally Christian.'
After enlarging on the enormity of the crimes of
Coroticus, and denouncing in the language of
Holy Scripture the judgments of God against
him and his followers, the Epistle concludes
thus : —

^ Thus shall sinners and the ungodly perish from the face of
the Lord ; but the righteous in great joy shall feast with Christ,
and shall judge the heathen, and rule over ungodly kings for
ever and ever. Amen.

^ I testify before God and His holy angels, that it shall be so
as my ignorance* has said ; these are not my words, but the

* /xrj«/r. See above, p. 352. This confirmation of the tradition that the
* first epistle,' as he expressly calls it, Picts were partially converted to
no longer exists. Christianity oy the labours of SS.

* Own hand. ' Et manu mea Ninian and Palladius before the tiinc
scripsi atque condidi verba ista, &c.' of Patrick.

FiUanue<va^ p. 241. ^ Igmramci^ox unskilfulne«y'mcft

' Christian. This is an undesigned imperitia,* meaning, ' I myself.* This

CHAP. II.] Tillemonfs Judgment. 385

words of God, of Apostles, of Prophets, who never lie, which
I have translated into Latin : they who believe shall be saved,
but whoso believeth not shall be damned. God hath spoken.
I therefore earnestly request of everyone, whosoever as a
willing servant of God may become the bearer of this Letter,
that it be not withheld from any one, but rather that it be read
before all the people^, and in the presence of Coroticus himself.
May God inspire them to return to a better mind towards
Him, that even though late, they may repent of their impious
deeds. They have been murderers of the brethren of the Lord :
but let them repent, and set free the baptised captive women
whom they have heretofore carried off; so shall God count
them worthy of life, and they shall be made whole here and for
ever. Peace ^ to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy
Ghost. Amen.'

^ Such,' says Tillemont^ ^ is the account we •nuemont's
have of St. Patrick in the original pieces which
bear his name, and to which we believe the
most entire faith may be given. He speaks
always in his Confession as in charge of the
whole Church of Ireland ; he styles himself
Bishop of Ireland^ in his Epistle about Coroticus.
This may give some ground for supposing that
he was then the only bishop there, and that if
he established other bishops there, it was not until
afterwards. In fact, he speaks in his Confession^

is an instance of the same manner of gular doxology : perhaps the author

speaking which has been mentioned mcdjit gloria -^ or else we must take

above, p. 382, n. ^ it as a prayer that Coroticus on his

^ People. As this letter is expressly repentance may have the peace of

said to have been originally written God.

in Latin, we may infer that the peo- ^ TilUmont. Mem. Eccl. xvi. p.

pie to whom it was to be read must 465.

have understood Latin. The follow- * Of Ireland, Or rather, * in Ire-

ers of Coroticus were therefore Ro- land.' Hiberione comtitutiu epis-

man citizens of the provinces of copus.

Britannia, the colonists, or descen- * Confession. * An quando ordi-

dantsof the colonists, who had settled navit ubique Dominus clcricos per

there under the Roman rule. modicitatem meam, &c.' Sect. 22.

2 Peace. * Pax Patri, et Filio, et Fillanue<vay p. 206. This passage i&

Spiritui Sancto.' This seems a sin- not in the B. of Armagh.

C C

386 The Confession inconsistent with [chaf. n.

of the clerics whom he had ordained, but not of
bishops. Nevertheless, he may have included
bishops under the name of clerics : and indeed
the existence of bishops who ruled under him
would not hinder his being the principal bishop,
and in some sense bishop of this whole Church.'
In the Epistle against Coroticus, says the same
author^, ^ we see his tender love of his people :
and his grief for the Christians who had been
slain, whilst at the same time he rejoices
that they shall reign with the Prophets, the
Apostles, and the Martyrs/ The passage^ alluded
to occurs in immediate continuation of a para-
graph already quoted : —

' Thanks be to God, O ye believers and baptised, yc have
gone from this world to paradise. I behold you — you have
begun to migrate to where there shall be no night, nor sorrow,
nor death any more : but ye shall exult like calves let loose*,
and ye shall trample on the ungodly, and they shall be as ashes
under your feet. Therefore shall ye reign with apostles and
prophets and martyrs ; and ye shaU receive everkusting king-
doms, as He testifieth saying. They shall come from the east
and from the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and
Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Without are dogs,
and sorcerers, and murderers, and liars, and perjurers, their
portion is in the lake of eternal fire.'

The Con- Wc havc already more than once spoken of
condhbiT the silence of the Confession on the two subjects
m^o^"" of St. Patrick's mission from Rome, and his
fromRomc. ccclcsiastical education in the schools of St.
Germain and St. Martin on the Continent of

^Author. Ibid. p. 463. ^ Let loose, * Exultabitis acut f i-

' Pauage. Villanueva, sect. 9, tuli resoluti.* Ware reads * Skut vi-

p. 245. See above, p. 359. tuli ex vinculis resoluti* Opeuc. p. 19.

CHAP. II.] the Roman Mission of Patrick. 387

Europe. It is impossible to believe that a writer,
whose object it was to defend himself against
those who questioned his qualifications and
authority, could have failed to have urged these
unanswerable arguments, if he had indeed re-
ceived any such education, or was the bearer of any
such commission from the chief Bishop of the Latin
Church. And this argument is valid even though
the Confession be rejected as a forgery. For the
author of the forgery, writing in the name of
Patricius, evidently wrote without any design to
prop up the Roman mission or the continental
education of St. Patrick.

Assuming, however, the genuineness of the
Confession, its testimony is undoubtedly incon-
sistent with the commission from Celestine ; and
this of itself may sufficiently account for the
circumstance that there now remain to us only
a few scattered copies^ of it, notwithstanding
that its authenticity was admitted by the bio-
graphers of St. Patrick, who have quoted it as
his, and, as we have already remarked, made it
the basis of their histories of him.

When the story of his mission from Rome
became an essential part of his history, this
authentic account of his life, which did not
countenance that story, and which contained no
extravagant miracles, fell at once into oblivion
or disrepute ; the Lives, fiill of wondrous tales
and exciting legends, cast it into the shade.

* Scattered copies. This ciroim- against the Confession, by Mr. Her-
stance has been urged as an argument bert, Brit, Mag, xxiv. p. 608.

C C 2

388 Theology of the Confession. [chaf. u,

although it was universally received as the genu-
ine composition of St. Patrick, and a copy of it,
believed to be his autograph, preserved at Armagh
to the beginning of the ninth century.

It should be borne in mind also, that this
Treatise and the Epistle on Coroticus are not
merely silent on the subjects alluded to, but
give an opposite testimony. The author speaks
of himself in express terms in both these tracts
as rude and unlearned ; he rests the authority of
his Mission altogether on dreams and visions : in
fact, on an immediate revelation which he
believed himself to have received, and which
conveyed to him a direct commission, similar
to that of the Apostles, from the Almighty
Himself.
th7o)"n-°^ It remains now to say a few words on the
^eaion- doctrine put forth in the Confession. For this it
will suffice to quote a sort of creed or statement
of the Author's faith which we find near the be-
ginning of the Tract. It is not expressed in the
technical language of a formal creed or symbol.
He aimed evidently at employing as much as
possible the language of Holy Scripture : for the
Confessio was addressed to his converts, whom
he had instructed in the letter of the Scriptures,
and upon whose ears the words of Holy Writ
fell with an authority from which there was no
appeal.
The (>eed This Crccd, as we may call it for convenience'
f Kit. sake, IS contamcd m the followmg passage, which
occurs in continuation of the paragraph already

CHAP. II.] St. Patrick's Creed. 389

quoted, where we have the account of his capture
at Bonavem Taberniae.^

' Wherefore I am not able, nor would it be right to be silent
on such great benefits and such great grace which [God] hath
vouchsafed unto me in the land of my captivity : for this is
our recompense* [to Him] that after we have been corrected
and brought to know God, we should exalt and confess His
wondrous works before every nation which is under the whole
heaven : that there is none other God, nor ever was,
nor shall be hereafter, except God the Father unbegotten,
without beginning, from whom is all beginning, upholding
all things (as we have said) ; and His Son Jesus Christ,
whom we acknowledge to have been always with the
Father, before the beginning of the world, spiritually with the
Father, in an ineffable manner begotten, before all beginning ;
and by Him were made things visible and invisible ; and
being made man, and, having overcome death. He was re-
ceived into heaven unto the Father. And [the Father] hath
given unto Him all power, above every name, of things in
heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and
God. Whom we believe, and we look for His coming,
who is soon about to be the Judge of quick and dead, who
will render unto every man according to his works, and hath
poured into us abundantly the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the
pledge of immortality (pignus immortalitatis), who maketh the
faithful and obedient to become the sons of God the Father,
and joint heirs with Christ^, Whom we confess and worship
(quern confitemur et adoramus) one God in the Trinity of the
sacred Name. For He Himself hath said by the Prophet*,
Call upon Me in the day of thy tribulation and I will deliver
thee, and thou shalt magnify Me. And again He saith*. It is
honourable to reveal and to confess the works of God.'

1 Tahernite. See above, p. 362. His benefits. OldetCs Translatiott^

Book of Armagh y fol. 22, a.b. p. 44.

^ Recompense. * Haec est retributio ' IVith Christ, * Coheredes Christie*

nostra/ i.e. the only recompense we Omitted in the Bollandist copy.

can render to Him : the only way in * Prophet, Jer. xxix. 13.

which we can make any return for * He saith, Tobit, xii. 7.

^go Antiquity of this Creed. [chaf. n.

Its anti- This confession of faith is certainly not Homo-

ousian^ ; neither can we absolutely conclude that
its author had seen the Creed of Nicaea. It
omits so much which might have been expected
from a theologian of the fifth century, that it
is scarcely fair perhaps to regard it as a creed.
It makes no mention of the resurrection of
the body, nor of our Lord's descent into hell.
It does not even mention our Lord's burial,
which is supposed to include and contain the
article of the descent into hell in those antient
creeds where that article is wanting. It seems
evidently to have been written before the Mace-
donian controversy. There is no allusion to
Pelagianism or to any of the great heresies of
the day. It contains, however, as far as it
goes, a statement of St. Patrick's doctrine.
He attributes the creation of all things to
the Son. He teaches his disciples that the
second Person of the Trinity poureth into us
abundantly the Gift of the Holy Ghost, 'the
pledge of immortality.'* It is the Holy Ghost
who maketh us sons of God the Father and joint
heirs^ with Christ : it is the Holy Ghost whom
we worship with the Father and the Son, One
God, in the Trinity of the sacred Name, or

^ Homoousian, After the words batensi desidenui contextus indicat,*
< visible and invisible/ the Bollandist p. 534, note d. But if such libeities
editor inserts * qui Filium Sibi con- are taken with the sources of hUtoryy
substantialem genuit,^ but forthishe no sound conclusions can be de-
admits that he had no authority from duced.

the MS. he professes to follow. He * Immortality, Alluding no doubc

merely observes that these or similar to Eph. i. 14. Comp. % Cor. L 11.

words are required by the context : v. 5.
' Htc aut similia verba in MS. Atrc- » Joitit heirs, Rom. Tiii. 17.

CHAP. II.] Date of the Author. 391

perhaps the meaning may be, under the sacred
Name of Trinity.^

There is but little in the two Tracts we have Date of st.
been considering to lead us to any decisive con- atiw*
elusion as to the date of the author, or the
precise year when he commenced his missionary
labours amongst the Irish.

The Epistle about Coroticus must have been as inferred
written whilst the Franks were still pagan, and EpUticabout
therefore before the adoption of a nominal Chris- '^ ^^
tianity by Clovis and his subjects in 496. St,
Patrick reasons with Coroticus that it was the
custom of Roman and Gallican Christians to
raise large sums of money for the redemption of
baptised captives from the Franks and other
Pagans ; whereas, he says, Coroticus, although
professing Christianity, slew or sold to heathen
nations his Christian captives ; handing over the
members of Christ to the abominations of the
heathen.^

When this was written, Patrick had been many
years a bishop in Ireland. The messenger sent
by him to Coroticus to demand the restoration
of the captives was a venerable priest, whom he
had himself, as he tells us, instructed from infancy,
' qucm ego ex infantia docui.' He says also that
he had begotten in God and confirmed in Christ

^ Trinity The synod of Alexan- sanctos idoneos ad Francos, et cxteras
drla, A.D. 317, is said to have first gentes cum tot mil. solidorum ad re-
used the term Trinity, in its strict dimcndos captivos baptizatos. Tu
theological signification. SeeSuicer, toties intcrficis, et vendis illos genti
T/iesaur. in voce Ipiaq. extene ignoranti Deum, quasi in lu-

2 The heathen. The words are panar tradis membra Christi.' IVare^

* Consuetudo Romanorum et Gallo- p. 28.
mm Christianorum, mittunt viros

^ga Probable Date of [chaf. n.

innumerable Christians in Ireland. The letter
was therefore written near the close of his minis-
try. If he had brought up from infancy one who
was then a priest and fit to be put at the head of
a delicate mission, we cannot assign less than
30 or 40 years to his previous episcopal labours
in Ireland. Therefore, taking some year be-
tween 480 and 490 as the approximate date of
the Epistle, we may assume a.d. 440 to 450, or
at latest 460, as the limits within which must be
found the year of the consecration of St. Patrick
and of his arrival as a missionary in Ireland.^
As deduced Thc Coufcssion, as we have it in the Book of
confesrion. Armagh, contains nothing to aid us in this
enquiry. But one of the passages, found in the
other copies, informs us, that a fault, which he
had committed at the age of 15, was brought
forward, and objected to him by his friends, 30
years afterwards, with a view to prevent his being
consecrated a bishop, and to obstruct his design
of devoting himself to the Irish mission. If this
be true, he must have been 45 years of age at
his consecration; and a.d. 395 to 415 will be
the limits of the date of his birth.^ In another
passage, which is also one of those omitted in
the Armagh copy, he is made to say that he
began his ministry among the Irish whilst as yet
a young man.^ This, if we can credit Probus\

* In Ireland, This is the reason- above.

ing of Tillemont. Mem. Eccl. S. Pa- > Toung man. * Vos sdds rt

trice, note, iii. p. 783. Deus qualiter apud tos convenatus

* Birth J i.e. assuming 440 to 460, sum a juventute mca.' Wmrt^. it.
as the extremes within which we must * Probus. Lib. i. c. 19. fr. W.
place the date of his consecration, as p. 51. Sec above» p. 316.

man Mis-

CHAP. II.] Patricks arrival in Ireland. 393

was whilst he was still only a priest, and conse-
quently before he was forty-five years old.

The Irish annals, with singular unanimity. The dates

• J r 1 • • 1 8>vcn in the

give A.D. 432 as the date or his consecration and inshAnnais
arrival as a bishop in Ireland. But this date is ""onxhtKL
in fact the story of his being commissioned by
Pope Celestine, and with that story must fall to
the ground. The year 432 is the year of the death
of Pope Celestine ; the latest year in which a com-
mission from Celestine could have been received
by St. Patrick. He was then, we are told, sixty
years of age ; he laboured in Ireland sixty years
more, and died, * after the similitude of Moses,*
at the age of 120. He was therefore born a.d.
372 and died a.d. 492, or 493. These are the
dates adopted by Archbishop Ussher. But the
very mention of the similitude to Moses ^, and
the division of Patrick's life into four equal
periods of thirty^ years, are enough to render these
dates very suspicious.

The annals, whose authority was paramount
with Ussher, all take for granted the Roman mis-
sion of St. Patrick, and are therefore compelled
to make a.d. 432 the date of his consecration.

^ Moses. Nennius, c. 60, (Havniae, 446). See also Reeves, Adamnariy

1758, p. 1 01). Ussher, Pr/^Tior^., p. p. 6, note". The four periods of

887. (Works, vi. 450). Patrick's life are thirty years in

^ Thirty. The periods of sixty servitude in Ireland ana study on

and thirty pei-vade Irish Hagiogra- the continent ; thirty in his joumey-

phy. We have seen above, p. 200, ings and studies in the islands of the

that Patrick being then thirty years Tyrrhene seaj thirty in missionary

of age, met St. Kieran at Rome, and labours in Ireland ; and thirty in

predicted that they should meet again, monastic retirement. Ussher to, p.

after thirty years, in Ireland. He 449. The story that he lived to

predicted also that St. Brigid should the age of 120 is as old as the coUec-

survive him thirty years. Ussher , tions m the Book of Armagh.
Primord.y p. 883. (Works, vi. p.

394 Traces of an older Chronology [cha?. n.

Traces of But thcfc arc traccs, in other extant records, of

an older

chronology a different chronology and of an earlier tradition.

The Irish version of Nennius^ says expressly

in the Irish that whcn Palladius was sent to Ireland, Patrick

version of ..--..

Nenniusj was a captivc With Milluc or Milchu in Dal-
aradia. If this be true, since he was two or three
and twenty when he escaped from captivity, and
assuming that his escape could not have been
later than the mission of Palladius, Patrick must
have been born not later than 410. This coin-
cides with the period already determined by a
comparison of the Epistle and the Confession ;
but is entirely at variance with the received
chronology of his Life.

intheSyn- Xhc curious Tract^ in the Irish lansuage,

chronisms ^ o o '

of the quoted by Ussher and O Flaherty, ' On the Syn-
chronisms of the Kings and provincial Kings of
Ireland and Scotland,' tells us that the battle of
Ocha, in which King OilioU Molt was slain, hap-
pened exactly forty-three years^ after the coming of
Patrick to Ireland, meaning of course his coming
as a missionary. This would make Patrick's
arrival about eight years after the death of
Celestine, and is consequently inconsistent with
the story of the Roman mission. For the battle
of Ocha, according to the Annals of Ulster, was

' Nennius. Irish Nennius, p. 107. are, * iii. bliadhan ar .zl. 6 thinic Fi-

' Tract, Book of Lecan, tbl. 23, traic i nErinn co cath Ocha hi tor-

Oy a. Ussher says of this work, ' Qui cair Ailioll Molt.* OTlaheitr sijs

lingua Hibernica turn monarcharum that the writer is in errors and that

etprovincialium Hibernixprincipum we oueht to read fifty-one jtMxu

tum Albania regiim syncnronismos But this is only saying that \

delineavit, non novitius author, &c/ adhere to the story ofPatrick*! mif-

IVorksy vi. 145. OTlahcrty, Ogyg.y sion from Pope Celestine. Ocha was

p. 427- ^ place^ in the Co. of Mcath, nor

• Forty-three years. The words Tara hill.

CHAP. II.] of St. Patrick's Life. 395

fought A.D. 482 or 483, and therefore counting
43 years back, a.d. 439 or 440 would be the
date of Patrick's coming. It is remarkable that
this is the same date which we have deduced
independently from the Epistle on Coroticus.

Again, in the Annotations of Tirechan^ pre- inTirechan;
served in the Book of Armagh, we have the
following chronological note : —

* From the Passion of Christ to the death of Patrick are in all
436 years. But Loiguire reigned two or five years after the
death of Patrick. And the total duration of his reign was, as
we think, 36 years.'

Here the death of Patrick is dated 436 from
the Passion, or 469 from the Nativity of Christ.
And it is said that Loiguire, or Laoghaire, reigned
either two or five years after Patrick's death, that
is to A.D. 471 or 474. If, therefore, Laoghaire
reigned ^6 years, as Tirechan says he believed, he
must have begun to reign, according to Tirechan,
A.D. 435 or 438, both which dates are inconsis-
tent with the Roman mission ; especially if it be
true that Patrick arrived in Ireland in the fourth
year of King Laoghaire. On that hypothesis the
date of his coming will be 439 or 442, a result
curiously in accordance with the foregoing con-
clusions derived from very different data.

' Tirechan. B. of Armagh, fol. whether the numeral letters were ii.

^. a. b. < A passione autem Christi or u. But the date which he assigns

colleguntiir anni .ccccxxxui. usque to the death of Patrick is inconsistent

ad mortem Patricii. Duobus autem with the history of Patrick the apes-

vel u. annis regnavit Loiguire post tie : and approaches more nearly to

mortem Patricii. Omnis autem regni the date at which the death of Scn-

illius tempus .xxxui. ut putamus.' Patrick is recorded in the annals.

This passage is a curious undesigned This, however, docs not affect the

proof t hat Tirechan copied from early calculation of the beginning of King

documents in which it was uncertain Laoghaire^s reign.

39^

Antient opinions on the

[chap. u.

in the poem
ofGilla-
Caemhain ;

in the
* Chrono-
logy of the
Kings.'

The valuable Chronological Poem, by Gilla-
Caemhain^ an Irish bard and historian of the
eleventh century, supplies abundant evidence
of the existence of a chronology inconsistent
with the mission from Celestine; but to exa-
mine or state this evidence would occupy too
much space here. It must suffice to mention
that this writer counts 16:? years from the
advent of St. Patrick to the death of Pope
Gregory^ the Great. Gregory the Great, as is
well known, died March i2,y 604; therefore
the advent of Patrick, according to Gilla-
Caemhain, must be dated 44^.

Once more, there is a very curious tract pre-
served in the Book of Lecan^ entitled ' On the
Kingdom of Ireland and the Chronology of its
Kings from the reign of Laoghaire son of Niall

* GiUa Caemhain. The work here
alluded to has been published by Dr.
O'Conor, in the original Irish, with
a Latin version. Rer. Hib. Scriptt,
i. Proleg. ii. p. xxxi. sq. The
author died 1074. Gilla or Gildas,
which signifies servant^ was often
prefixed, as in this case, to the
names of saints, to form a Christian
name. See 0"Donovzn,Topogr,Pofmjf
Introd. p. 55.

' Pope Gregory. The particular
numbers are, from the advent to the
death of Patrick 58 ; from that event
to the death of Brigid 30 ; from that
to the death of King Tuathal Maol-
^rbh 21 ; to the death of King
Diarmait Mac Carroll 20 ; and to the
death of Pope Gregory 3 3 ; in all
162. Dr. O'Conor in his notes la-
bours hard to correct the numbers
given in the text of this poem, in
order to reconcile its Chronology
with the story of the mission from
Pope Celestine. But he forgot that

although the numbers are almoct al-
ways written in the MSS. of the
poem in numeral letters, ther must
have been read in words, and these
words must be consbtent with the
metre and prosody of the lines in
which they occur. Dr. 0*Conor*s
corrections will not alwajrs stand this
test i and the conclusion is inevitable,
even after making due allowance for
errors of tranMrription, that the
chronology of Gilla-Caemhain, be it
right or wrong, does not square with
the Roman mission.

' Book of LecoH, Fol. 306, «. * Do
flathis Ereand, ocus dia naimsearaib
na rig, 6 ilaithius Loegaire mec Neill,
CO haimsir Ruaidri mec Thairrdeal-
baig hi Conchobuir.* This is an
enlarged copy of the older form of
the same Tract in the Book of
Leinster, mentioned p. 183, ftook
which the annals of ecclesiastical
events, printed p. 184 sq,^ were
extracted.

CHAP. II.] Date of Patriclis arrrval. 397

to the time of Roderick son of Torlough
O'Conor.' This tract tells us that Laoghaire
reigned thirty years, and his successor OilioU
Molt, twenty. But this latter chieftain, as we
have seen, was killed at the battle of Ocha in
48^, or 483; therefore 43:? or 433 must, have
been the first year of King Laoghaire Mac Neill,
according to this authority. And if Patrick
arrived in Ireland in the fourth year of Laog-
haire, the date of his coming will be 436 or
437, four or five years after the death of Pope
Celcstine.

To meet this difficulty O'Flaherty asserts that o'Fiahcr.
Laoghaire reigned in reality thirty-five years, nation. .
counted as thirty only in the series of Christian
kings, because during the first five years of his
reign he was a pagan. Therefore, the fourth year
of his reign was 43^, the year in which Patrick
received Pope Celestine's commission. The
authority upon which O'Flaherty relies for this
statement is the following passage, with which
the tract just referred to begins. We shall give
it in the original mixture of Irish and Latin,
with a literal translation : —

' Ro gob tra Laegairi mac Now Laegairi, son of Niall

Neill noigiallaigh rigi tricha of the nine hostages, held the

annis. kingdom thirty years.

Regnum Hiberniae post ad- He retained the kingdom of

ventum Patricii tenuit. Ireland after the coming of

Patrick.

Ardmacha fiindata est. Armagh was founded.

Secundinus (i. Sechnall) et Secundinus (i.e. Sechnall)

senex Patricius in pace dormi- and Old Patrick slept in

erunt.' peace.

^g8 Tie older Chronology ignores [chap. u.

Dates of jjgj-e it will be observed that the length of King

Laoghaire'8 Laoghaire's reign is first stated in Irish to have
been thirty years ; and then in Latin he is said to
have reigned after the coming of Patrick, but the
number of years is not given. This suggests a
suspicion that the figures marking this latter
number may have been suppressed, and that this
antient document has been tampered with,
O 'Flaherty^ quotes it most unfairly ; he says : —

' Thirty years are usually assigned to him [i.e. to Laoghaire],
but those thirty years are to be counted from the time when he
embraced Christianity, as in the Book of Lecan is thus ex-
plained in Latin : Triginta annis regnum Hibemia post advfB^
turn Patricii tenuit.'

But these words are not to be found in Latin
in the Book of Lecan ; the Book of Lecan docs
not say that Laoghaire reigned thirty years after
the coming of Patrick ; but only that Laoghaire
'reigned after the coming of Patrick/ The
thirty years are mentioned in the Irish, not in
the Latin words of this document, and were
certainly meant to include the whole duration^

^ O^ Flaherty. His words are, p. 184, supra} seems to support

Ogyp, p. 429, < Hulc triginta annos OTlaherty^s view. It states appa-

pleriuue tribuunt \ illi vero trieinta rently that Laoghaire reigned tnuty

accipiendi sunt, ex ^uo Jesu Cnristi years after the coining of Fatrick.

farailix nomen dedit, ut in codice but the meaning is nr^ntheless^ chat

Lecano ita Latine explicatur, TW- thirty years were the entire duxatioB

ginta armisy &c.' of his reign, and that he continued to

' tVhoU duration. It is curious reign after the advent of Patrick, the

that Dr. Petrie, although he quotes number of years being omitted. This

both the Irish and Latin words of the would place the advent of Patrick in

Book of Lecan, omits inadvertently the first year of King Laoghaire: and

the two words < Regnum Hibemix,^ such is the testimony of the annals

in the Latin part of the quotation, of Ulster, in whicn the death of

and thus contmues the confusion. On Laoghaire is dated 46xyOrthirty ycais

Tara Hilly p. 87. The copy of this aiter43s,thedeathof PopeCelodiie.
Tract in the Book of Lein&ter, (sec

CHAP. II ] the Papal Mission. 399

of Laoghaire's reign, not merely the portion of
it which followed his supposed conversion to
Christianity.

But enough has been said to establish the fact ThcoWer

r^i 1 • ^ \ r i • ^ r ehronology

that a Chronology existed before the period of inconsistcn
the Irish Annalists^ which was entirely incon- Roman
sistent with the story of a mission from Pope
Celcstine, and which placed the arrival of St.
Patrick from eight to ten years after the death of
that Pontiff. This older Chronology is confirmed
by the evidence of the Confession andof the Epistle
about Coroticus ; evidence th? more important
because it was undesigned, being derived, not
from any express statement of a date, but from
a comparison of passages written evidently with-
out the most remote intention of fixing the year
or century in which the author flourished.

Wc may now proceed to consider the particu-
lars recorded of St. Patrick's missionary labours
in Ireland, and his success in converting to Chris-
tianity the rude and barbarous tribes whom he
found in the country.

^ Iris^ Annalists. Tighernach, the earliest of them, died in 1088.

400

CHAPTER III.

The Missionary Labours of St. Patrick in Ireland.
His Interview with King Laogbalre. His Irish
Hymn. His Adventures In Connaught. Fes-
tival of his Baptism. Story of King haoghalres
Daughters. Foundation of Armagh. His sup-
posed Revision of the Pagan Laws. His Canons.
His Death.

Legends
inserted
into the
Acts of St.
Patrick
with a
special
purpose.

T would be inconsistent with the pur-
pose of these pages to record minutely
all the adventures and acts attributed
to St. Patrick by his biographers.
Many of those adventures were evidently invented
to pay a compliment to certain tribes or clans by
ascribing the conversion of their ancestors to the
preaching of St. Patrick. Others were intended
to claim for certain churches or monasteries the
honour of having been by him founded: and
others, again, were framed wdth the object of
supporting the pretensions of the see of Armagh
to the possession of lands or jurisdiction in
various parts of Ireland.

Such stories, however, although we cannot
regard them as history, frequently possess an
interest of another kind. They are precious
records of anticnt topography ; they illustrate
the manners and customs of the times when

CHAP. HI.] Obscurity of St. Patrick's Acts. 401

they were invented, and often preserve curious
information as to the origin of Church property
or jurisdiction, and the laws regulating the
tenure of land.

We have already pointed out some of the diffi-
culties with which the attempt to make Patrick
a regularly educated missionary from Rome has
encumbered the chronology of his life. Those
difficulties have been greatly increased by the
introduction of the legends to which we have
alluded ; and it is now, perhaps, impossible to
separate completely the true from the fictitious
in his history.

Muirchu Maccumachtheni, one of the earliest The com-
authors whose collection of the Acts of St. Patrick Maccu-
has come down to us, admits in strong and some- ™*^ "^
what inflated language the hopeless obscurity
of the materials he undertook to arrange. His
Preface or Dedication is addressed to Aedh, or
Aidus, anchorite and bishop of Sletty in the 7th
century, at whose suggestion, as he tells us, he
compiled the work.^ This Preface, written in a

^ The Ivor k. See above, p. 314, riculossum et profundum narrationis

note 2. The original words, of sanctae pylagus, turgcntibus proterve

which a translation is attempted gurgitumaggeribus inter acutissimos

above, are these : — * Quoniam qui- carubdes per ignota xquora insitos,

dem, mi domine Aido [Irish vocative a nullis adhuc llntribus, excepto

oi Aedh], multi conati sunt ordinare tantum uno patris mei Cognito si,

narrationem, utique istam, secun- expertum atqucoccupatum,ingenioli

dum quod patres eorum, et qui mei puerilem remi cymbam deduxi.

ministri ab initio fuerunt sermonis Scd ne magnum de parvo videar

tradiderunt illis, sed propter difficil- fingucre, pauca haec de multissancti

limum narrationis opus, diversasque Patricii gestis, parva peritia, incertis

opiniones et plurimorum plurimas auctoribus, memoria labili, attrito

suspiciones, numquam ad unum cer- sensu,vilisermone,sedaiFectupissimo,

tumque historic tramitem pervenie- caritatis etiam sanctitatis tux et auc-

runt. Ideo ni fallor iuxta noc nos- toritatis imperio oboedens, carptim

trorum proverbium, ut deducuntur gravatimquc explicare aggrediar.*

pueri in ambiteathrum(//V),in hoc pe- Book of Armagh^ fol. 20, tfuf.

D D

402 Mutrcbus Preface. [cmap.ui.

strain obviously copied from the introductory
verses of St. Luke's Gospel, is as follows : —

' Forasmuch as many, my lord Aldus, have taken in hand
to set forth in order a narration, namely this, according to what
their fathers, and they who from the beginning were ministers
of the Word, have delivered unto them ; but by reason of the
very great difficulty of the narrative and the diverse opinions
and numerous doubts of very many persons, have never arrived
at any one certain track of history ; therefore (if I be not mis-
taken, according to this proverb of our countrymen. Like
boys* brought down into the amphitheatre) I have brought down
the boyish row-boat of my poor capacity into this dangerous and
deep ocean of sacred narrative, with wildly-swelling mounds
of biUows, lying in unknown seas between most dangerous
whirlpools, — an ocean never attempted or occupied by any
barks, save only that of my father Cogitosus.* But lest I
should seem to make a small matter great, with little skill, fh>m
uncertain authors, with frail memory, with obliterated meaning
and barbarous language, but with a most pious intention,
obeying the command of thy belovedness, and sanctity, and
authority, I will now attempt, out of many acts of Saint
Patrick, to explain these, gathered here and there with
difficulty/

This complaint was made before the close of
the seventh century. We need not, therefore,
in the nineteenth, affect to be able to clear up
what was then so obscure, nor hesitate to confess
our inability to do so. In the following account

^ Boys. The meaning seems to meaning to a passage hitherto quite

be, < It I do not overrate my powers, unintelHgible. He has also shewn

as boys brought into the arena, who that our author*s Irish sumaine

are then found incapable of acting Maccu-machtheni, signifies ' Filio-

their parts.' rum Co^itosi,* the IriSi word Mmck-

* Cogitosus. The MS. reads Cog- tAeni, from a root which denotes

nito si, in two separate words. Dean tAink, deliherate, being the cquiva-

Graves, with a critical acuteness that lent of the Latin cogitosus, Htf

cannot be too highly estimated, sug ingenious and very valuable fnper,

gests the reading Cogitosif as the lately read before the Royal Irish

name of the author's father : an Academy, will shortly be printed in

emendation which gives sense and the Transactions of that body.

CHAP. Ill] Patrick's Acts in Leinster. 403

of St. Patrick's labours we shall confine ourselves
to some of the leading facts of his history, select-
ing those which seem most likely to be true, and
illustrating them occasionally with such anec-
dotes as are calculated to exhibit in the most
striking manner the character of the man and the
nature of his religious teaching.

We have already^ noticed the accounts given st.Patrick*8
of the rejection of St. Patrick by some tribes of rejection by
Leinster amongst whom he is said to have Ldnstcr. **
landed ; and we have suggested some reasons for
believing that all such accounts belonged origi-
nally to the Acts of Palladius, and were trans-
ferred, either ignorantly or with design, to St.
Patrick. In further confirmation of this opinion
it may be observed that the antient Life by
Muirchu Maccumachtheni in the Book of Ar-
magh says nothing of any opposition made to St.
Patrick on his arrival, or of his having been
violently expelled from the coasts of Leinster.
He arrived, this author tells us, at Inbher Dea,
in the territory of the Cuolenni*, and recollecting
that he had left his master Milchu without having
been redeemed, as a slave, in order to recover his
freedom, ought to have been, he resolved to visit ^

^ Already. See above, p. 338, /y. tus rederaerct, ct inde appetens

^ CuoUnni. See above, p. 343, sinistrales fines ad ilium hominem

note. gentilera Milcoin apud quern quon-

^ To 'visit. This appears to be dam in captivitate fuerat, por-

the meaning. The honored ship tansque gerainum servitutis pre-

oF the saint, our author says, * In tium, terrenum utique et coeleste ut

oportunum portum in regiones Cool- de captivitate liberaret ilium, cui

ennorum, in portum apud nos cla- antea captivus scrvicrat.* — Book of

rum qui vocatur hostium Dee dilata Armagh y fol. 1, bjf. Here we find

est, ubi vissum est ei nihil perfectius no mention of its having been the

esse quam ut semetipsum primi- custom of the country to manumit

D D 2

404 His Visit to [chap. in.

the place of his captivity, and offer to his former
master a double ransom : an earthly one, namely,
in money and worldly goods, and a spiritual one,
by making known to him the Christian faith and
the Gospel way of salvation.
His wjourn Sailing northwards with this view, he stopped
Wa^dsoff at an island on the east — ad anterior em insolam —
Sfh^ °^ ' which has since been called by his name.'
This was no doubt Inis Patrick, a small island
off Skerries on the coast of the County of Dublin,
which still bears the name of St. Patrick's Island.
The parish to which it belongs is called Holm-
patrick. Tirechan tells us that Patrick came
also to the islands of Maccucbor^, attended by
some Gauls, and by a multitude of holy bishops,
presbyters, deacons, exorcists, ostiarii and lectors,
and also * sons whom he ordained;* meaning,
perhaps, by this last phrase, students on proba-
tion. But this part of the story is no doubt
an exaggeration. It is not credible that at this
early period of his mission St. Patrick could

slaves everv seventh year, like the sixth century. Although diey be-

jubilee of tne Jews, or of the angel long^ed to tne West of Iruand,

showing him a mass of gold to pay and most probably to the islands of

for his redemption. Schol. on Fiacc, Arann, oiF the coast of Galway, it

n- 5> 9- ('^^' *^^'9 P- 4> ^0 These is not impossible that in Ac age of

stories, however, all show that the Tirechan, the grpup of islands, ncm

biographers considered it necessary the Skerries, mxy have been called

for the honor of the saint, that he from them. A romantic tile b ei-

should not be represented as a mere tant, being an account of their

runa<way slave. voyage into the Atlantic Ocein.

' Maccuchor. In the MS. Mac- Professor O^Curry has given an ab-

cuchoTy more correctly Maccu Chor^ stract of it in his Lectures, p. xt9,

* the islands of-the sons or descen- sa, A place in Munster, called

dants of Corr/ The Ui-Chorra, Aill mic Cuirr, * Cliff of the Son

sons of Conall Dearg Ua Chorra, of Corr,* is mentioned as one of the

were three noted adventurers, who seats of the King of Cashel. Bmk

flourished about the middle of the 0/ Rights, p. 89, 91.

CHAP. III.] Inis Patrick. 405

have provided himself with so large a staff of
attendants. The statement, however, is worth
noting from the mention of the Gauls^ who
accompanied him ; which tends to confirm the
opinion, already expressed^, that Patrick had his
mission from the Gallican Church.

The islands^ forming; the Skerries' group are Landed at

Inis Pa-

low and sandy, easily accessible to light boats or trick,
small ships : and offering convenient landing-
places. In Patrick's time they were probably
uninhabited; and may have been the islands which
Tirechan calls ^insulaeMaccuChor.' Inis Patrick,
in its very name, still affords evidence favourable
to the tradition that it was visited by St. Patrick.
It is possible that he may have sought a tem-
porary refuge there, as offering a harbour safer
than the coast, if only from the very fact that it
was uninhabited. His object probably was to ob-
tain provisions, of which all the legends represent Hisywntof
him to have been in want. We have seen that
on his arrival at Inbher Dea, the mouth of the
river Vartry, he begged fish^ and was refused;
whereupon the river was Smitten ^ with the bolt
of his malediction :'^ as the author of the Tri-

^ Gauls. * Venit vero Patricius the other Lives in CoIgan*s collec-

cum Gallis ad insolas Mac cuchor et tion mention only Inis Patrick.
insola orientali {sic) quae dicitur * Fish. See above, p. 342.

insola Patricii.' Book of Armagh^ * MaUtUction, *Jaculo malcdic-

fol. 9, a.b. Muirchu had called this tionis ilumen illud feriit.' Fit, Irip.^

island * anterior insola,' with the same i. 41 (p. 123}. The Irish text telk

meaning. See Reeves, Adamnan, this story of /»^^fr /)tf/wwwir«, which

Glossary^ in *v. * Anterior.^ is now Malahide. See Reeves* Ad-

^ Expressed. See p. 335, supra. amnarty p. 31, note ^: CoJgan, i^r//,

^ Islands. The Second and Third •?•?. p. 304, note 17.
Lives say nothing of these islands :

4o6

His arrival in UUdia.

[chap. III.

Curses the

Nanny

Water.

Sails to Dal-
aradia.

partite life expresses it. At Inis Patrick, the same
authority tells us, he was in great distress^ for
food, and sent a party to Inbher n-Ainge (the
mouth of the Nanny water), to seek fish, but
without success. That river also was punished
with the curse of unproductiveness. Let us
hope that these examples of vengeance, so com-
mon in his story, represent only the mind of the
ecclesiastics of a later age, and that his biographers
knew not what spirit he was of.

The antient Life in the Book of Armagh goes
on to say that Patrick sailed firom the island,
leaving on his left Bregia and the territory of the
Conalnei^ or descendants of Conall Cearnach ;
passing by Ulidia^ the present County of Down,
until he arrived at a strait called Brene, and
landed at the mouth of a river Slain*, at the

' Distress, * Ubi cum fame nimi-
um laborabat, et nulla adess^ via,
qua refici posset, misit aliquos ex
sociis ad ostias fluminis de Inbher
Ainge, pro piscibus ibi quaerendis,*
&c. Fit, Trtp, i. 44 (p. 124). The
river Nanny, as it is now called,
flows through the midst of the antient
territory of Cianachta-Bregh, and
forms the boundary between the
Baronies of Upper and Lower Du-
leck, Co. of Meath. The mouth of
the Nanny is distant about nine
statute miles from St. Patrick's
island.

' Conalnei. Seep. 361, if o/f. This
district was inhabited by the tribe
of Conaille Muirtheimhnc, a branch
of the Clanna Rudhraighe (Clann-
Rury), descended from Conall Cear-
nach, who was 6th in descent from
Rudhraiehe, or Rury, King of Ire-
land, and is fabled to have witnessed
our Lord's Crucifixion at Jerusalem.
See above, p. i98,«.,and O'Flaherty,

Opg, pp. 278, 283. For an account
of the district inhabited br his de-
scendants, see Dr. O^Donovan's
valuable notes. Book of Rights^ pp.
21, 166.— Breeia, (by Irish writen
usually called Magh Breffh, or the
Plain of Bregh,) is a district in-
cluding the countiesof Meath, West-
meath, and the northern half ojf Dub-
lin, with part of Louth. IbiJ,,p. 1 1 , «.

» UMa, See Reeres, EccL JiOiq.
o/Dotvn and Cotmor^ p. 35a.

^ SUnn, * Ad extremum fretum

3uod est Brene se inmissit, et discen-
erunt in terram ad hosdum Slain
ille et qui cum eo erant in naTi,*
&c. Book qf Armagh^ foL a. b, k
The < Fretum Brene ' b the « Bali-
bren ' of the Taxation of 1 306, now
Ballintogher, * Town of the Cause-
way.' Reeves* Donvm and Comnor^ p.
40. The Slain is a,small river, now
called Slany^ between the townland»
of Rinebane and Ballintogher, about
two mues from Sabkaiot SauL Sec

CHAP. III.] Conversion of Dicbu. 407

S.W. extremity of Strangford Lough; here he
hid his boat, and proceeded with his companions
to explore the country.

They had not gone far when they met a swine- convcnion
herd, bupposmg them to be pirates or robbers,
the swineherd ran away and called his master,
whose name was Dichu. Dichu was a chieftain
of high birth, one of the family of the Dal-
Fiatach, descended in a direct line from Fiatach
Finn^, who was King of Ireland a.d. 116.
Hearing that pirates had landed on his territories
he came out sword in hand to oppose the in-
vaders ; but struck with the venerable appearance
of St. Patrick, he received him with kindness,
took him to his house, listened to his preaching,
and finally became a believer in Christ — ^ the
first^ of the Scots,' say more than one of the
Lives, who confessed the faith under Patrick's
ministry.

Patrick remained for a few days only with his Patrick
new convert, being still desirous of visiting the master
scene of his captivity and attempting the con-
version of his former master Milchu. Leaving
his boat with Dichu he set out with his com-
panions on foot to the territories of the Cruitheni
or Plcts'^ of Dalaradia, and reached Sliabh Mis,

a valuable paper (privately printed) ^ Fiatach Finn, Sec OTlaherty,

by Mr. J. W. Hanna of Down- O^g.y pp. 142 — 301.

patrick, entitled, * An Inquiry into ^ First, See above, p. 344.

the tnie landing-place of St. Patrick ' Picts. They were the descen-

in Ulster.' And compare what is dants of Conall Ceamach, of whom

said of the fountain Slan, in Fiacc's we have already spoken. His first

Hymn, Tr. T//., p. 2, nnd page 5, wife Lonnchad was the daughter of

note 19. Eochaidh Echbeoil of the Picts of

4o8 Death of Milcbu. [chap.iu.

now called Slemish, a basaltic hill of remarkable

shape, at the extremity of that district, the scene

of his supposed visions and angelic apparitions

during his captivity. Here he stood to view the

woods where he had so long tended the herds

of Milchu, but was astonished at beholding the

house of his old master in flames. The legend

states that Milchu, instigated by the devil, had

set fire to his house and all his substance, casting

himself also voluntarily into the fire, lest he

should be compelled to submit to the authority

and jurisdiction of his former slave.^

Hede- As a punishment for this singular mode of

3^^f ' shewing his obstinate infidelity, the family of

Milchu. Milchu were denounced by St. Patrick. He

predicted that none of the sons of Milchu should

sit as a king on the throne of his kingdom, and

that his seed should be slaves for ever.*

The £uth Patrick then retraced his ^ff^ to Magh-inis,

ui^"* the antient name of the district, now the barony

of Lecale^ where Dichu resided. There he

Scotland. By her he had Irial generadone in gencfationem, imoper.

Glunmor, King of Ulster, whose ct semen ejus tenriet in sempitcr-

descendants were therefore called num.* Sb.^ fbl. 3, aJb. Notw^-

Pictsor Cruitheni, until they received standine this prediction, we reid of

the new name of Dal-Aradians, Milchu s son Guasacht, who was t

from his descendant Fiacha Araidhe, bishop in the church of Gnmnl

King ofUlster,A.D. 240. See Reeves, {Mart, 9/ Donegal^ 24. Jan), and

D(ywn and Connor ^ p. 334, seq, two of his daughters, both named

^ Slave, * Ne servo subjectus fie- Eimer or Emeria, who were in the

ret, et ille sibi dominaret, insiinctu neighbouring nunnerjr of CloD-

diabuli sponte se igni tradidit, et in Bronaigh. rii. Trip,^ i. c. ao, ii. c

domu in qua prius habitaverat, rex, 30. 136.

congrcgato ad se omni instrufliento ' LtcaU, Magh-Inis signifies the

substantias suae incensus est/ — Book island-plain, the district being tcrj

of Armagh y fol. 3, aM, nearly surrounded by the sea. Le-

* For e*ver, < Nemo de filiis ejus cale, properly Uth-CatkaU^ signifies

sedebit rex super sedem regni ejus a the portion or district of Cmul, a

CHAP. III.] Foundation of Sabbal Patraic. 409

remained for some time — dtehus multls — going
about in the neighbourhood preaching and teach-
ing ; and there ^ the faith began to spread.'^

We are told in the later Lives that Dichu Foundation
granted to St. Patrick on this occasion a certain orSaui.
tract of land for the foundation of a church,
together with a barn or granary, which having
been converted into a place of worship, was
afterwards known by the name of Sabbal Patraic^
' Patrick's granary,' and became in after times a
celebrated monastery. The place still retains
the name of Sabhal, or SauP, and is situated
about two miles N.E. from Downpatrick.

This story, which does not occur in the
antient Life, is evidently one of those interpola-
tions, of which we shall have frequent occasion
to speak, foisted into the Acts of St. Patrick in
later times, for the purpose of doing honour to a
monastic establishment.^ But the account given

Chieftain who flourished about the fvalue of the presents. It asserts

AD. 700. See Reeves, Dotun and only that he received nothing from

Connor, p. 201, sq. his converts in return for baptism or

^ Spread. * Rursum pervenit in holy orders : — * Forte autem,^ he

campum Inis ad Dichoin, ibique says, stating it as an objection made

raansit diebus multis, ct circumiit against him, * quando baptizavi tot

totum campum, et elegit, et amavit, milia hominum, speravenm ab ali-

et coepit fides crescere ibi.* Book of quo illorum vel dimidium scrip-

Armaghy ibid. tulae ? Dicite mihi et reddam vobis.

^ Saul. The word Sabhal^ pro- Aut quando ordinavit Dominus

nounced nearly as its modern name clericos per modicitatem meam ct

Saul, signifies a barn, and is Latinized ministerium, gratis distribui illis. Si

* Horreum Patricii.' See Reeves' poposci ab aliquo illorum vel prc-

Do'ivn and Connor, p. 220, sq. tium calceamenti mci, dicite ; dicite

* Establishment. Dr. Lanigan (i. adversus me, et reddam vobis.' Ware,

p. 215) quotes a passage from the Opusc. p. 19. This is a very difFer-

Confession, in which he says, St. ent thing from making * a rule ' not

Patrick tells us that * he made it a to accept grants of land for the es-

rule not to accept of presents, at least tablishment of Christianity, and the

of any considerable value.' But the erection of churches.
passage referred to says nothing of

4IO

The Transverse Church.

[chap. Ul.

of the donation is worthy of notice. The author

of the third Life^ thus describes it : having said

that Patrick preached the Word of God to
Dichu, he adds : —

* Then Dichu believed in him, the first before all others
who did so, and gave him the land on which they were
standing. And Dichu asked St. Patrick that the length of the
Church should not be turned from west to east, but firom north
to south, and this request St. Patrick granted. Then Patrick
erected in that place the transverse Church, which is called
even to the present day Sabhul Patrick.'

Orientadon
of Churches
in Ireland.

The

Druidical
Prophecy
of St.
Patrick.

This is evidence that the usual position of
churches in Ireland, when this story was re-
ceived, must have been east and west — a fact
which is curiously confirmed by the celebrated
prophecy^ of St. Patrick's coming, attributed to
the Druids of Ireland.

This prophecy, in a very antient dialect of the
Irish language, is preserved by the Scholiast on
Fiacc's Hymn. It is so characteristic in many

> Third Life, Cap. 31. The
same story is repeated by Joceline,
c. 31. The Tripartite Life (i. 47)
mentions the donation of land, but
says nothing of the transverse posi-
tion of the church. That part of
the story may be no more than a
sort of apology to explain why St.
Patrick permitted such an anomaly.
Ussher quotes this story (Epist. 49,
ad SeUenum, now 5 1 , IVorkSy xv. p.
175), to show that in St. Patrick's
time there was no law prescribing
the orientation of Churches. The
story can scarcely prove anything as
to the practice of St. Patrick, or of
his age. Bingham infers that St.
Patrick's tfj^^r was to build churches

north and south. Antiq.^ Book viii.
c. 3, sec. 1. The opposite con-
clusion wouldy however, be more
reasonable.

' Prophecy, Reeves, Dowm emd
Cormor, p. 221. This prc^hecj is
alluded to by Fiacc, in his Hymn,
stanza 10 ; and Muirchu, in die
Book of Armagh, speaks of it as
obscure in his time i * verba pro
linguae idiomo [sic] non tam maai-
festa,* althouflrh perhaps he only
means that they were obscure to
those unacquainted with the Irish
language, and that they needed tran-
slation into Latin, fbl. 2, b. See
also Pctric, On Tara^ p. 77, 7!,

CHAP, iii.l The Drutdical Prophecy. 41 1

ways of Irish legend that we shall venture to
insert it here : —

' Ticfa tailcend
Tar muir murcend,
A brat tollcend,
A crand chromcend,
A mias in iarthur a thigi,
Frisgerad a muinter uili

Amen, Amen.'

These lines, it will be observed, are in a rude
rhyme, having much of the character of an in-
cantation. They may be thus rendered : —

* He comes, He comes, with shaven crown,* from off the storm-

toss'd sea.
His garment pierced at the neck, with crook-like staff comes

he.
Far in his house, at its east end, his cups and patens lie.
His people answer to his voice, Amen, Amen, they cry.

Amen, Amen.*

It is clear that no Pagan Druids ever wrote
these verses, and it is evident also that they were
written when the orientation of churches was
the rule, and the altar always in the eastern end
of the building. The allusion to the shaven
tonsure^, the clerical habit, and the episcopal
staff, proves beyond question that this stanza

' Shwuen croivn. The word to the modem tonsure, or shav-

tailccnd is rendered Lascicipui [not ing of the head, not to the more

Asciciputy as Dr. Reeves supposed, antient tonsure, which was only a

Adamnan^ p. 351, ».] in the Book clipping or shortening of the hair.

of Armagh, which has greatly Taucendy is shaven head, from tal^

puzzled the biographers. Lasci'vium^ take away, deprive, cut off (French

is barber's soap ; written also La- tailUr), and cenn^ the head.

sa'verium, Lesa'viumy French, Sa- * Tonsure, See Synod. Toletana.

<vonette\ English, Lather. *Las- (a.d. 633) ftf». 41. Isid. Hispal.,

ciriput ' is therefore shaven head, De Off, EccL, il 4 — Greg. Turon.,

and proves that these lines allude De Gloria Martyrum^ i. a8.

412 Patrick's Acts In Meatb. [chap. m.

cannot be older than the beginning of the
seventh century. And this may possibly be also
the age of the legend of Dichu's * transverse
church.' Dr. Reeves has shewn that Sahhall
was a name given ^Iso to a church at Armagh,
which seems^ to have been in like manner built
north and south; and he infers with much
probability that churches possessing this pecu-
liarity may have been all called Savals or Sauls
(i. e. Barns), perhaps to indicate their deviation
from ecclesiastical propriety.
Patrick To return, however, to St. Patrick. Having

Taraat laid thc foundation of Christianity in Dalaradia,
he resolved, we are told, to visit the central parts
of Ireland, and to preach Christ in the very
citadel of its idolatry. Easter was approaching,
and he determined to select that festival as the
season most fitting for his purpose. Whether it
be true, as the writers of his life all tell us, that
this was the first Easter celebrated by him in
Ireland, is very doubtful. The adventures* as-
signed to him and his successful preaching in
the North, must have taken some considerable
time. After leaving Dichu he sailed, we arc
told, to Inbher Colptha, the mouth of thc

^ Seems. The Armagh church is Ross, brother of Dichuy and of St.
called by different authorities Dam- Mochaoiygrandson of Patrick**

Easter.

Hag an tSabhaiU^ * the Stone Church ter Milchu, byhisdaughterBronach.

of the Savall/ thc * Scptentrionalis (SecMart.Daneg,yiiJ}mc.)ModagH

ecclesia,' and the * Sinistralis ecclesia.' became Abbot at Aondruim,or Nen-

Reeves, Donvn and C. p. 220, 22 1, drum (not Antrim^ as Lanigan sap-

and Churches of Armagh^ p. 15. posed, i. p. 217), now island Mahce,

^ Ad'ventures. Besides those here orMochaoi. Recves,/^t</.,p. i87ySq.

mentioned, the biographers record Patrick was long enough in Lccale to

also his meeting with Benen or Be- baptise,instructyand ordain Mochaoi^

nignus \ the conversions of Rus, or who was also called Caolan.

CHAP. III.] His Arrival at Tara. 413

Boyne ; and leaving his boats^ there, proceeded
on foot to execute his intention. He arrived
in the neighbourhood of Tara on Easter eve,
during the celebration of some pagan feast or
solemnity which happened to coincide with the
Christian Easter, and presented himself before
the Pagan monarch. This is the story whose
claims to credibility we must now examine.

The hypothesis of the Roman mission of St. Not the
Patrick assumes that he arrived in Ireland soon a^hia
after the death of Pope Celestine. But Celestine JJTw"
died^ on the 28th or 29th of July 432. Let
Patrick, therefore, have made all speed, let
us reject the stories of his having stopped at
Menevia, Cornwall, or anywhere else on the
way, he cannot possibly have arrived at Wick-
low harbour earlier than some time in the month
of August. The Easter-day of the follow-
ing year 433 fell upon the 26th of March :
there remain just seven months for the conver-
sion of Dalaradia and all the other transactions
we have described. It is difficult, therefore, to
believe that the Easter- tide, at which Patrick
resolved to appear before the court of King

* 5o^jr/j. Here (according to the Tri- have taken some time. Lomman

partite Life, i. c. 55) occurred the remained 80 days at the mouth of

transaction of which we have already the Boyne, before he ascended the

spoken, which led to the foundation river in search of his master : but

of the Church of Trim, and the ac- we are not to suppose that his ad-

quisition of certain lands, with chief- ventures all took place before the

tainry, for the See of Armagh, Easter day at which Patrick is said

although Armagh was not founded to have preached to King Laogh-

for 2a years after. See above, p. aire. There is no mention made

150, sq. Intro J. App. B., p. 257. of Easter in the story.
The story was avowedly of late • Died. See Fran. Pagi, Bre*uia-

origin : serotinis temporibus inventa. Hum Gestorum Pontiff. Rom, Antv.

The events it records, if true, must 1717, vol. i. p. 180.

414 Dr. O' Conors Theory [chap. m.

Laoghairc was the Easter immediately following
his arrival in Ireland.
Theargu- Dr. O'ConoF has maintained with much in-
o^conor. ' genuity and learning^ that the Feast of Tara
was celebrated at the vernal equinox, and that
the near coincidence of the Easter of a.d. 433
with that equinox affords a strong confirmation to
the date required by the hypothesis of the Roman
mission. But the same argument applies with
even greater force to the year 441, in which
Easter fell on the 23 rd of March ; and this year
is not only more in accordance with the probable
date of St. Patrick's arrival which we have
deduced from his own writings^, but will enable
us also to allow without difficulty a year or more
for his successful preaching in Dalaradia.
The Fcsti- Dr. O'Conor's theory is built upon two gra-

valofTara . _ % • i

not the tuitous and unsupported assumptions, namely —
that the Festival of Tara, which coincided with
St. Patrick's Easter, was the Druidical Festival
of Beltine, and that the Druidical festival of
Beltine^ was at that time celebrated, not, as is

' Learning. Dr. O' Conor's dis- to signify * lucky fire,' or * the fire

sertations on this subject, Rer, Hit, of the god Bel/ or BauiL The former

Scriptt.f torn. i. Epist, Nuncupat., p. signification is possible $ the Cekic

Ixxi. sq. Sttywcy Catal., i. p. 32, 33, word Si7, is gCKxl, or lucky; time,

contain everything that can be said or tine, fire. The other etymokj^,

in favour of this view. But, as Dr. although more grenerally recenre<^ is

Petrie has remarked, Dr. O'Conor's untenable. Petrie, On Tara, p. 84.

arguments are ' more ingenious than The Irish Pagans worshipped the

satisfactory, and his references to heavenly bodies, hills, pillaur stones,

authorities in support of his conclu- wells, &c. There is no eridence of

sions, are such as, on examination, their having had any personal gods,

will seldom be found to bear him or any knowledge of the Phoemciin

out in his assertions.* Tara Hill, p. Baai. This very erroneous etymo-

85. logv of the word Beltine is never*

' Huntings. See above, p. 392. j^. theless the source of all the theories

* Beltine, This word is supposed about the Irish Baal*wonhip, &c.

Beltine.

CHAP. III.] of Easter not tenable. 415

generally supposed, on the first of May, but at
the vernal equinox. Tradition, however, and all
our remaining records make the first of May the
Beltine of the Pagan Irish ; we have no notice
of its having ever been otherwise. The first of
May in every part of Ireland, and in all the
Gaelic regions of Scotland^, is still called 'La
Beltine,' or ^ Beltine's Day,' and the Beltine fires
are in many places still kept up in both countries.
Dr. O'Conor reconciles this fact to his hypothesis
by asserting that the original Druidical festival
was transferred in Christian times from the
vernal equinox to the first of May. The Chris-
tian clergy, he tells us, being unable wholly to
extirpate the Pagan observance, changed the
time of its celebration to the first of May, lest it
should interfere with the holy season of Lent,
and the solemnities of Easter. Of this change,
however, there is not the smallest evidence. It
would probably have been quite as difficult as
the total abolition of the festival. Moreover, it
is not said, in any of the Lives of St. Patrick, or
any other authority, that the festival celebrated
by King Laoghaire was the Beltine. So that
the whole of this theory, however ingenious and
plausible, falls to the ground.^

On the other hand it is said, in more than one The Feb of
of the Lives of St. Patrick, that the festival h^^m
celebrated by King Laoghaire on this occasion

November.

* Scotland. See Armstrong's ' Ground, See Introd. Book of

Gaelic Diet., voce Bealtuine. ^g^ts, p. xlviii. sq.

41 6 The Feast of Tar a in November. [cHAP.m.

was the Feh Temracb^, or Convention of Tara.
If so, it was held, according to all the authori-
ties, on Sambalny the last day of October or first
of November. A poem^, attributed to the bard
Eochaidh OTlynn, who died a.d. 984, gives the
following account of this festival, which is de-
scribed as having been of the nature of a Parlia-
ment or legislative assembly, but partaking also of
a religious character : —

^The Feis of Tara, every third year.
To preserve Laws and Rules,
Was then regularly convened
By the illustrious Kings of Erinn.
• • • •

Three days before Samhaitiy always,
Three days after it, it was a goodly custom, &c/

This poem. Dr. Petrie says, is perhaps the
most antient authentic record which describes
the nature of these meetings. They are there
spoken of as triennial, although other authori-
ties^ make them septennial ; but this is a question
with which we are not now concerned. It is
enough for us to remark that whether the

^ Feu Temrach, So say the Keating (ed. Haliday), p. 330.

Fita 2day c. 34, Fita ^tia^ c. 37. O'Mahony^s Transl., p. a3». Tlie

the Tripartite, i. c. 50 ; and Joce- original Irish is giyen by Dr. P^triey

line, c. 40. This latter authority Tom Hi//, p. 31.
says that the feast was called RacA^ * AutkontUs. See the BmI ^

but this is no doubt an error either RigMs, p. 7, and Dr. O^Dooovan's

of Joceline himself, or of his copyists. Introduction, /k*. of. Keating at-

/Vtr/rmror^, was mistaken for f>j/«m tributes the origin of this assembly

Rach, The word Feis signifies a to an institution of OUamh Fodla :

feast ; and is translated caena by afterwards remodelled by Tuathal

Tighemach and the Ann. of Ulster; Techtmar, King of Ireland, A.D.

Temrac/t is the genitive case of 1 30, who took portions from the

Temur^ Tara. five Provinces of Ireland to form

* Poem. Quoted by Keating, in the Province of Meath. O'J

his account of the reign of Olhmh Aony^s Keating, p. 2989 sq. Petrie»
Fodla, who was King of Ireland, On Tara, p. 3a, 33,
according to O'Flaherty, a.m. 3236.

CHAP. III.] Nature of the Pagan FtstivaL 417

«

festival was the Beltlne or the Samhain of the
Pagan Irish, it never could have coincided with
the Christian Easter.

It is true that some of the Lives^ speak of
this festival as if it were an occasional solemnity-
only, not of periodical celebration ; and one
authority asserts that at this time King Laogh-
aire was celebrating his own birthday.^ If
this be so, the feast may possibly have coin-
cided with St. Patrick's Easter, but there will
result no data from that circumstance to enable
us to determine the year. It is, on the whole,
more probable that the coincidence of the Pagan
festival with Easter eve, the opposition between
the Paschal fire of St. Patrick and the idolatrous
fires of the Druids, together with the other
manifestly fabulous stories introduced into the
legend, are all circumstances created by the
imagination of the biographer^, which cannot
be dealt with as history.^

It is probable, also, that the interview of St. Patrick's
Patrick with King Laoghaire, at the Feis of Tara, atTara,not
if it had any foundation in fact, did not take place year of his
until a period of his missionary labours very much
later than that to which it is usually assigned.
Keating^ does not record this interview until
after his account of Patrick's travels in Munster

* Li'ves, So Vita 4ta, * In illo possession of the Duke of Devon-

anno contigit ut quandara idolola- shire. See O'Donovan, Book of

trice solemnitatem gentiles celebra- Rights, Introd. p. 1.

runt,' c. 40. Probus has nearly ^ History, See 'Peine, Tara Hill,

the same words, i. c, 34. p. 82.

' Birthday, This is said in the * Keating. In the reign of

unpublished Irish Life, preserved in Laoghaire. O^Mahony^s Transla-

the Book of Lismore, a MS. in the tion, p. 414.

E E

Mission.

41 8 The Tar a Feast not coincident [chap. m.

and Connaught, and after the foundation of
Armagh. It is, in fact, the last event noticed by
him in his Life of King Laoghaire.

If this may be taken as evidence of his having
formed an opinion so contrary to the received
Chronology, and even to what we may presume
to have been his own natural prejudices on the
subject, he may have been influenced by the
following note, which occurs at a.d. 461, in the
Annals of Ulster : —

* Laoghaire filius NeiU post * Laoghaire son of Niall after

coenam Temro annis vii. et the Feis of Tara lived seven

mensibus vii. et diebus vii. years and seven months and

vixit.' seven days.*

It can scarcely be doubted that by the Coena
Temro^ in this passage the author of these Annals
meant the celebrated Feis or Feast of Tara at
which St. Patrick appeared before Laoghaire;
if so, and if a.d. 463 be the true date of Lao-
ghaire's death, the Tara festival must have taken
place in the year 455.
The story Thc truth appcars to be that the period of £^-
Eastcr\ " tcr was fixcd upon by the legendary historians in

kgcnd. order to support their imaginary parallel between
Patrick and Moses ; between the delivery of the
Israelites from the power of Pharaoh, and the deli-
very of the Irish from the Egyptian bondage of
Paganism. Muirchu Maccumactheni, in his Life
of Patrick, labours everywhere to imitate the style
of the Scriptures. His preface, as we have seen,

' Coena Temro. SeePetric, Tara^ mur, or Tcmair, Is Temr9^ or 7W»-
p. 82. The genitive case of Tc- rach.

CHAP. III.] with Patrick's Jir St Easter. 419

is an imitation of the Preface to St. Luke's
Gospel. His account of St. Patrick's dealings
with Laoghaire is an imitation partly of the
Book of Daniel, and partly of the contest between
the Magicians of Egypt and Moses. This latter
contest took place at the first Passover of the
children of Israel ; therefore Patrick's contest
with the Druids of Tara ought to take place at
the first Christian passover or Easter celebrated
by him in Ireland. Muirchu introduces the
subject in the following words : —

' Now in those days the Passover {Pascha) drew near, which
Passover was the first that was celebrated to God in our Egypt
of this island, as it was of old celebrated in Gessen'; and they
took counsel where they should celebrate this first Passover
amongst the gentiles to whom God had sent him. And
after many counsels about this matter were suggested, at
length it seemed good to St. Patrick, being divinely inspired,
that this great festival of the Lord, which is as it were the head
of all festivals, should be celebrated in that very great plain * in
which the chief Kingdom {Regnum) of these nations was, &c.*

Here our author almost gives us notice that
he was about to parallel the first Easter of Patrick
in Ireland with the first Passover of Moses in
the land of Goshen. The story, therefore, that
Patrick's interview with King Laoghaire took
place at Easter, and at the first Easter celebrated

* Gessen. So the Latin vulgate mus.' ,So our author uniformly

renders the name, which in the He- calls the Pliin of Bregia. * Ubi

brew, and in our English Bible, is erat regnum maximum nationum

Goshen. The Book of Armagh has harum ' — here regnum is evidently

ingen esseon^ which seems a mistake put for the palace or scat of royal

ibr in Gessen. authority. Book of Armagh^ tol.

^ Great plain. * Campus maxi- 3, a.b,

E E 2

Feic.

420 The Legend of St. Patrick's [chap. m.

in Ireland, is clearly legend ; and we need not
embarrass ourselves with the Chronological diffi-
culties it may create.
Patrick The Legend, however, as we find it, is this :

Paschal — Having left his ship at Inbher Colptha, the
F^^-fcr- mouth of the river Boyne, Patrick travelled with
his companions to the great plain of Bregia, and
arrived about nightfall at Ferta-fer-Feic^ the
place now called Slane, in the County of Meath.
There he pitched his tent, and began the solemn
devotions of Easter-eve. Our author then pro-
ceeds, imitating the Book of Daniel: —

' Now there happened, in that year, the idolatrous festival,
which the Gentiles were wont to observe, with many
incantations and magical inventions, and some other super-
stitions of idolatry; gathering together the kings, satraps',
dukes, chieftains, and nobles of the people ; summoning also
the magicians, enchanters, augurs, with the inventors or
teachers of every art and gift unto Laoghaire (as unto King
Nabcodonossor of old), to Temoria, which was their Babylon,
and on the same night on which St. Patrick was celebrating
Easter, they were worshipping and exercising themselves in that
Gentile festivity.'

It appears that the Pagan festival began by the
extinguishing of every fire^ in the country ; and

* Ferta-fer-FeiCf i. c. * the graves some churches, on Easter-Eve, of

of the men of Fiacc' The Book of blessing new fire, * Benedictio hoti

Armagh has ' Ferti Virorura Feec, ignis/ In some places the new fire

quae ut fabulx ferunt fodorunt [/iV] was taken ^m oil collected from

V i ri, id est servi, Feccol Ferchertniy qui certain lamps of the Church j in other

fucrat unus c novim magis profetis places it was struck from flint or

^'■*^gS»' f*^^- 3» ^» ^- ^^^ + ^^^^' ^^ crystal (possibly the crjrstal may

A.D. 512, and Dr. O'Donovan's have been used as a burning glass).

note ^. This custom* appears to hare pre-

^ Satraps. Comp. Dan. lii. 3. vailed principally in the GaUican

' Extinguishing ofe<veryfire. This Church. But it was also practised at

supposed Pagan rite seems taken Rome: Martene tells usthat one ofdie

from the ceremonies practised in rites there enjoined was that all files

CHAP. III.] Preaching at Tara. 4:31

there was a practice among them (it is said)
' made known by proclamation' ^ to all, that
whosoever should on that night kindle a fire,
before the king's fire had been kindled on the
hill of Tara, ' that soul should be cut off from
his people.'^ But Patrick, disregarding this re-
gulation, lighted his Paschal fire on the hill of
Slane ; and this being seen from Tara, caused
astonishment and indignation. The king de-
manded who it was that was guilty of such
presumption. The magi answered : —

* O King ^ live for ever. This fire which we see shall never
be extinguished to all eternity, unless we can put it out to-night.
Moreover it shall prevail over all the fires of our wonted observ-
ance ; and he who has kindled it, and the Kingdom he is intro-
ducing, shall prevail over us all and over thyself, and shall win
away from thee all the men of thy kingdom ; and all kingdoms
shall fall down before it, and it shall fill all things, and shall reign
for ever and ever.'

This is a manifest imitation of Daniel's expla-
nation of Nebuchadnezzar's image : — 'In the
days of those kingdoms shall the God of Heaven
set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed,
and His kingdom shall not be .given over to
another people, but it shall break in pieces and
destroy all these kingdoms, and itself shall stand
for ever.''*

should be extinguished and lighted quidam mos apud illos per edictum

a^ain from the newly kindled fire omnibus intimatus, &c.' Book of

ot the Church : — * Interim autera Armagh^ fol. ^, b,b, Comp. Dan.

oinnes qui in civitate sunt vel in iii. 4.

vlllis extinguantur ignes, et bene- * People, * Pcriret anima ejus de

irto igne accendantur.' De Anti- populo
uis Eccl. Ritibusy tom. iii., lib. iv., * O

24, p. 144, 145. * Fo\

^ Proclamation. * Erat quoque gate).

dirto igne accendantur.' De Anti- populo suo.* Exod. xii. 15

quis Eccl. Ritibusy tom. iii., lib. iv., * O King. Sec Dan. iii. 9.

c. 24, p. 144, 145. * For ever, Dan. ii. 44 (^Ful-

422 Patrtclts contest with the Magi [chap. m.

His inter- QuF authof procccds, still imitating the Scrip-
view with or

King ture : —

Laoghaire.

*Now when King Laoghaire heard these things he was
greatly troubled, as Herod * was of old, and all the city of Temoria
with him j and he answered and said, This shall not be so, but
we will now go and see the end of the matter, and we will
take and kill the men who are doing such wickedness against
our Kingdom.

' Having therefore yoked nine chariots, according to the tradi-
tion of their gods, and taking with him those two magi for the
contest who were the best of them all, namely, Lucetmael and
Lochru, Laoghaire proceeded in the latter part of that night
from Tara to Ferri-fer-Fecc, turning the faces of the men and
horses to the left, the direction that Mras most suitable to
them.'*

The Druids would not permit the king to
enter the enclosure in which Patrick's fires were
burning, lest by some magical virtue he should
be constrained to adopt the new religion. They
counselled that Patrick should be sent for, and
that no person should rise up at his coming or
pay him any respect, lest those who did so should
believe on him. Patrick came, and seeing the
chariots and horses he entered the assembly
intoning the verse, ' Some put their trust in
chariots and some in horses, but we will remem-
ber the Name of the Lord our God.* One only
of the king's attendants disobeyed the injunctions
Conversion of thc magi, and rose up from respect to St.

ofErccfillus . ^, . -^ ^-, __ ft /•

Dcgo. Patrick. This was Jl.rcc nlius Dego% afterwards

* Herod. See St. Matt. ii. 3. Dcccj Dego being the genitive <

^ SuitabU to them. The left hand His genealogy up to Rudn^e,

being deemed unlucky. ^^^g of Ireland, in eighteeiL gene-

' tilius Dego, i.e. Son of Dcg, or rations, is preserved.

CHAP. III.] of King Laogbaire. 4^3

a bishop, * whose relics,' says our author, ' are
now venerated in the city which is called Slane.'^

Then follows the contest of Patrick with the contest of
magi of King Laoghaire, intended, as we have whh die
already said, to imitate the contest of Moses ^^^^
with the magi of Pharaoh. It is unworthy of
any attention as history. The magus Lochru
begins the contest by blaspheming the Catholic
Faith. Patrick fixed his eyes upon him, as
Peter upon Simon Magus, and prayed that he
might be lifted out and die.^ Immediately
Lochru is lifted up into the air, and falling
down again his brains are dashed out upon a
stone^ in sight of all.

The king is furious, and commands his people
to seize Patrick. But the saint intones the
Psalm, ' Let God arise, let His enemies be scat-
tered ; let them also that hate Him flee before
Him.' Immediately a thick darkness falls upon
the Pagan hosts, with an earthquake ; they kill
each other ; horses and chariots fly over the
plain, and at length a few, half dead, escape to
the mountain Monduirn. The king and queen
remain before Patrick.

* Slane. * Cujus nunc reliquiae quique me missisti hue, hie impius

adorantur in ilia civitate, quae voca- qui blasfemat nomen tuum clevctur

tur Slane.' Book of Armagh, fol. 4, nunc foras, et cito moriatur.' Book of

ay b. Probus copies these words, Armagh^ ibid.
substituting * venerantur ' for * ado- ' A stone, Tirechan tells us that

rantur,' lib. i., c. 37. he had himself seen the stone, and

- Die. * Hunc autem intuens that it lay in the south-east bound-

turvo oculo talia promentem, sane- aries, meaning apparently of the

tus Patricius, ut quondam Petrus de Palace of Tara. * Et est lapis illius

Simone, cum quadam potentia et in oris australibus oriental ibusque

magno clamore confidenter ad Do- usque in presentem diem, et con-

minum dixit, Domine qui omnia spexi ilium oculis meis.* Vnd, fol.

potes, et in tua potestate consistunt, 10. a, b.

4^4 The Easter at Tara. [chap. m.

The queen approaches, and humbly begs the
life and pardon of the king. The king forced
by fear kneels before the saint ; but intending
with treachery to kill him, as they were about to
separate, recalls St. Patrick. Patrick had with him
eight companions, one of whom was a boy. He
knew the king's evil purpose, and as he returned
and appeared before the king, he and his com-
panions suddenly disappeared, and the gentiles
saw only eight deer and a fawn going to the
wilderness. The king, sad, terrified, and hum-
bled, set out for Tara about daylight with the few
of his attendants who had escaped.
Patrick The next day was Easter Sunday. It w^as a

Ta^oV very great feast ^ with Laoghaire and his court.
^nZy. I^ ^^^ midst of their festivity, the doors being
shut^, Patrick and five of his companions
appeared amongst them. None rose up at his
approach except Duhbtacb Macculugil, or Maccu
Lugair, the king's chief bard, who had with him
a certain young bard or poet named Fecc {orF'iacc),
afterwards a wondrous bishop, whose relics', in
the time of our author, were venerated at Slctty.
Dubhtach was the first who believed in God on
that day, and it was counted unto him for
righteousness.

' Feast, * Festus enim dies maxi- tacA^ solus ex gendbus in honomn

mus apud eos erat." JbiJ,, fol. 4. b. b, SanctiPatricii surrexityet beaedixitei

* S^ut. ' Coram omnibus nation- sanctus. Credidltque primus in ilU

ibus, hostiis claussis, secundum id die Deo, et repputatum est ei id

quod dc Christo Icgitur.' JbiJ. justitiam.* IbiJ. The Fecc or Fiacc,

' Relics, ' Apud quem tunc tem- here mentioned, Bishop of Slett]r» >*

porisibieratquidam adoliscens poeta the reputed author of the Hjmn in

nomine Fecc, qui postea mirabilis praise of St: Patrick, already so often

episcopus fuit, cujus reliquiae ado- mentioned,
rantur Ai Sleibti. Hie, ut dixi, Dubh-

CHAP. III.] Discomfiture of the Magus, 425

The Druid or magus Lucetmael pours poison His contest
into Patrick's cup. Patrick blesses the cup, and Druid * (^
the fluid it contained congeals. He inverts it ; ^""^**^
and the poisonous drops fall out. The wine ^

again becomes fluid and harmless.^

The Druid then by his incantations covers the
plain with snow, but admits his inability to
remove the enchantment until the same hour on
the morrow. Patrick, saying to the Druid,
' Thou canst do evil, but not good/ blesses the
plain, and the snow disappears.

Again Lucetmael brings on a thick darkness,
but is unable to remove it. Patrick prays and
blesses the plain. Straightway the darkness
vanishes, and the sun shines forth, to the
admiration and joy of all the beholders.

Some other equally marvellous stories follow,
which we need not stop to transcribe. The
reader can now judge how much of this narrative
deserves to be treated as history. It is reduced
apparently to this single fact, that Patrick, at
some period of his missionary labours, appeared
in the Court of King Laoghaire, and preached
Christ before the courtiers of Temoria.

On this occasion Patrick is said to have com- Patrick'i
posed a Hymn^ in the Irish language, which was Hymn.

' Harmless. This is copied from analysis by the late eminent Celtic

the well-known legend of St. John scholar, Dr. John O'Donovan. Essay

and the poisoned cup. on Tara Hill, p. 57. Dr. Petiie

^ Hymn. It is preserved in the says that some portions of this Hymn

Irish Book of Hymns, and was first are still remembered by the peasan-

published by Dr. Petrie, who has try, and repeated at bed-time, as a

added a Latin and English transla- protection from evil. Jbid,, p, 69.
tion, with a valuable grammatical

4^6 St. Patrick's Irish Hymn. [chap* m.

celebrated for many ages, and probably did not
fall into oblivion until after the English invasion.
This Hymn is of the nature of what wras called
a Lorica}^ that is to say, a prayer to protect those
who devoutly recite it, from bodily and spiritual
dangers. It is undoubtedly of great antiquity,
although it may now be difficult, if not impos-
sible, to adduce proof in support of the tradition
that St. Patrick was its author.^ The following
literal translation of it may be interesting to
some readers : —

1. I bind to myselP to-day,

The strong power of an invocation* of the Trinity,
The faith of the Trinity in Unity,
The Creator of the elements.

2. I bind to myself to-day,

The power of the Incarnation of Christ, with that of his

Baptism,
The power of the Crucifixion, with that of his Burial,

' Lorica, See above, p. 1 24. before his death. The word is a

^ Author, It was called />M/V^zd!^tf, verb; ad-dom-riugf i.e. ad-rufg^ ad-

' the instruction of the deer/ because jungo, with the infixed pronoun

it was said to have been sung by St. dom, to me (see Zeuss, Grmmm,

Patrick when he and his companions Celt,., p. 336) ; the verb rimg^ which

were saved from the vengeance of occurs in the forms ad-rwg^ c^m^

King Laoghaire, by appearing to riug^ signifies to join. The true

the pafi^ courtiers as deer escaping ansuysis of this word was first pointed

to the forest. See p. 424, and Petrie^ out b^ Mr. Whitley Stokesl See

ib.f p. 56 \ also Festi*vities of Conan^ an article in the Saturd^ Revii'w,

edited by Mr. O'Keamey {Ossian, Sept. 5, 1857, p. 115. where a trans-

Soc,)f p. 1 90, n, lation of this h3rmn nrom the pen of

* / bind to myself. The first word that eminent scholar) is giTen.
of this Hymn, ^Atomriug^ was mis- * Invocation, Drs. 0*Donovan

taken by Dr. Petrie and Dr. O'Do- and Petrie translate the original

novan, for an obsolete form of the word togMrm^ invoco t but it is a

dative of Temur, Temoria, or Tara, substantive, not a verb : and so also

and was by them translated * at in the next line they render cntm^

Tara.' We cannot now regret credo, whereas it is fides. See

this error, as to it we owe the pub- Zeuss, p. 88. They were kd into

lication of this curious poem in these mistakes by the want of a

the Essay on Tara. But it is cer- verb in the sentence, resolting from

tainly a mistake, and was acknow- their having translated Mmmi^gp

ledged as such by Dr. O 'Donovan * at Tara,'

CHAP III] St. Patrick's Irish Hymn. ^zj

The power of the Resurrection, with the Ascension,
The power of the coming to the Sentence of Judgement.

3. I bind to myself to-day.

The power of the love of Seraphim,

In the obedience of Angels,

In the hope* of Resurrection unto reward.

In the prayers of the noble Fathers,

In the predictions of the Prophets,

In the preaching of Apostles,

In the faith of Confessors,

In the purity of Holy Virgins,

In the acts of Righteous Men,

4. I bind to myself to-day.

The power of Heaven,
The light of the Sun,
The whiteness of Snow,
The force of Fire,
The flashing of Lightning,
The velocity of Wind,
The depth of the Sea,
The stability of the Earth,
The hardness of Rocks.

5. I bind to myself to-day.

The Power of God to guide me^.
The Might of God to uphold me.
The Wisdom of God to teach me.
The Eye of God to watch over me.
The Ear of God to hear me.
The Word of God to give me speech.
The Hand of God to protect me.
The Way of God to prevent me.
The Shield of God to shelter me.
The Host of God to defend me.

Against the snares of demons.

Against the temptations of vices,

' Hope. The word frescisin in ' To guide me. Lit. * for my

Dr. Petrie's text ought to be freS' guidance,* and so on in the follow-
cisiu. See Zeuss, p. 268. ing lines, * for my preservation,* *for

my teaching,* &c.

4:?8 St. Patrick's Irish Hymn. [chap. m.

Against the lusts of nature,

Against every man who meditates injury to me.

Whether far or near.

With few or with many*

6. I have set around me all these powers,

Against every hostile savage power.

Directed against my body and my soul.

Against the incantations of false prophets.

Against the black laws of heathenism.

Against the felse laws of heresy.

Against the deceits of idolatry,

Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids.

Against all knowledge which blinds the soul of man.

7. Christ protect me to-day.

Against poison, against burning.
Against drowning, against wound.
That I may receive abundant reward.

8. Christ* with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,

Christ in the chariot-seat,
Christ in the poop.*

9. Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

10. I bind to myself to-day.

The strong power of an invocation of the Trinity,
The feith of the Trinity in Unity,
The Creator of the Elements.

» Christ, i.e. 'May Christ be « Poof^, i.e. Christ when I am

with me/ < May Christ be before in the fort (at home). ChriA when

me/ &c. There is a pa^ssagc not I am in the chariot-temt (triTellinff

unlike this in Bishop Andrewes's by land); and in the poop (timvcC

Preces Pri*vatct^ p. 117. {Anglo- ling by water). See Stokes, tritk
Catholic Library. Oxford, 1853). Glojtsei (580)9 p. 8i,

CHAP. Ill ] Its Antiquily. 429

II. Domini est salus,*
Domini est salus,
Christi est salus,
Salus tua Domine sit semper nobiscum.

That this Hymn^ is a composition of great Andquity
antiquity cannot be questioned. It is written in a authenticity
very antient dialect of the Irish Celtic. It was Hyml
evidently composed during the existence of Pagan
usages in the country. It makes no allusion
to Arianism, or any of the heresies preva-
lent in the continental Church. It notices no
doctrine or practice of the Church that is not
known to have existed before the fifth century. In
its style and diction, although written in a dif-
ferent language, there is nothing very dissimilar
to the Confession and the Letter about Coroticus,
and nothing absolutely inconsistent with the
opinion that it may be by the same author.

Add to this, as Dr. Petrie observes, that in
the seventh century, when Tirechan composed
his annotations, it was certainly believed to be
the composition of St. Patrick. That author
tells us that in his time there were four honours
paid to St. Patrick in all monasteries and churches
throughout the whole of Ireland. The first of
these was that the festival of St. Patrick in

^ Salus. This stanza is in Latin retains the error of translating if/o«-

in the original Hymn. riug, ' at Tara.' But it preserves in

2 Hymn. An admirable poetical a wonderful manner the tone and

translation of this hymn, by the late spirit of the original. It has been

talented but unfortunate James Cla- reprinted in a volume of Mangan's

re nee Mangan, appeared some years collected * Poems, with Biographical

ago in Dufffs Magaxine. It is Introduction^ by John Mitchell.'

founded on Dr. Pctrie's version, and New York, 1859, ?• 4^3-

430 Internal evidence of the Hymn. [chap. m.

The four sprins;, ' sollempnitas dormitationis eius/ was

honou«of / ^ , ^ / , , V -I -1

St. Patrick, honoured, for three days and three nights, with
all good cheer (except flesh ^ meat), as if Patrick
was himself alive at the door. Secondly, that
there was a proper Preface for him in the Mass.
The third and fourth are thus stated : —

' ill. Ymnum ejus per totum tempus cantare.
iiii. Canticum ejus Scotticum semper cancre.'*

' To sing his Hymn for the whole time,' and
' to sing his Scotic Hymn always.' ' His Hymn '
here mentioned is undoubtedly the Latin Hymn
by Sechnall or Secundinus, and 'his Irish or
Scotic Hymn ' is that of which we have just
given a translation. The former was sung
during the whole time of his festival, the latter
always, or at all times.
Internal Internal evidence is in favour of the anti-

of'auXn- quity and authenticity of this composition.
ocity. *T\iC prayer which it contains for protection
against ' women^, smiths, and Druids,' together
with the invocation of the power of the sky, the
sun, fire, lightning, wind, and other created
things, proves that notwithstanding the un-
doubted piety and fervent Christian faith of the
author, he had not yet fully shaken off all Pagan

^ Except flesh. Because the 1 7 th 68. Irish Book of Hymns ^ ^. $0,
of March falls within the limits of * Women, See above, D. 1 la. The

Lent. As there were other feasts of magical powers supposed to bekMig

St. Patrick, our author distinguishes to aged women and blacksmiths are

the 1 7th of March by calling it the well known. A belief in them coo-

* Solempnitas dormitationis ejus in tinues to prevail in some paits of

medio veris.* Ireland and Scotland to the present

' Canere. See Book of Armagh^ day. Petrie, On Tara^ p. 69.
fol. 16, tf. a. Petrie, On Tara^ p.

CHAP. III.] Not considered heterodox. 43 1

prejudices. But this class of superstitions lin-
gered longer than any other in men's minds, and
was with greater difficulty eradicated. Dr. Petrie
suggests that, on this account, the Hymn may have
been formerly regarded as of doubtful orthodoxy,
and therefore, he says, no allusion to it occurs in
the later Lives of St. Patrick. Colgan, he adds,
notices it only in his list of St. Patrick's writings.
But it is doubtful whether the authors of the
later Lives had ever heard of it." From its
language it was inaccessible to Joceline. The
author of the Tripartite Life speaks of it very
distinctly. * Then,' he says^ ' St. Patrick com-
posed in the vernacular language that Hymn
which is commonly called Fedb Fiadbay and by
others the Lorica of Patrick : and it is held in
great esteem by the Irish ever since ; for it is
believed, and proved by long experience, to pre-
serve from imminent dangers both of soul and
body those who devoutly recite it.' These words
show no distrust in the orthodoxy of the Hymn,
and were evidently written when it was well
known, and the recitation of it still generally
practised with faith in its efficacy. A belief in
the magical power of witches, blacksmiths, and
Druids would scarcely have been deemed incon-
sistent with orthodoxy in the age when the Lives
w ere written, and not even perhaps in the time
of Colgan."

^ He says. Quoted by Petrie, On found in the Ir'uh Book of HymnSf

Taray p. 55. now in the library of St. Isidore''s

'^ Colgan. It is more than pro- Convent, at Rome, which was the

hahle that Colgan had never seen copy that Colgan used.
the ttxt of this hymn j for it is not

43^ Laogbaire s hypocritical Conversion, [chap. m.

The Hymn Wc may Hot, therefore, err very much in
the real taking this Hymn as a fair representation of St.
ofls^ ^' Patrick's faith and teaching. Whether it was
teacWng. actually written by him or not, it was certainly
composed at a period not very distant from his
times, with a view to represent and put forth
his sentiments. It exhibits in a much more
probable and favourable light the character of
the missionary from whom Ireland received the
faith, than that in which he is made to appear
in the Legendary Lives. In them he stands
before us as a great magician, bringing down
judgements from heaven, causing sudden destruc-
tion to fall upon his enemies, terrifying, not per-
suading ; a magus more powerful than the magi
of the Pagan king. But in the Hymn, notwith-
standing some tincture of superstition, wc find
the pure and undoubted truths of Christianity,
a firm faith in the protecting providence and
power of God ; and Christ made all and in alL
The con- King Laoghairc, we are told, was influenced

version of iri i •• •!• «

King by carnal tear and not by conviction m his sub-
not^ttncwe. missiou to the new doctrines. Patrick, if we
credit the biographers, had caused the death of
both his most eminent Magi. The Druid
Lochru was miraculously lifted up into the air,
and his brains dashed out upon a stone. Lucct-
mael, the other magus, having submitted to an
ordeal by fire, was defeated and consumed.* No

* Consumed. The storv is this : — wood : the hqj Bincn, who hadfbl-

A hut was constructed partly of lowed St. Patrick, was placed in the

grecnpartlyof dry wood : the magus part made of dry wooa. Tlie boy

was placed in the part made of green had on the magica] gannent of the

CHAP. III.] He is cursed by St. Patrick. 433

w onder that the king should have been greatly
enraged, and should have rushed upon Patrick
with intent to kill him.

' But God/ says the old biographer Muirchu, Patrick
in the Book of Armagh, Laoghairc.

* but God hindered him, at the prayer of Patrick ;

for at Patrick's word, the wrath of God fell upon his head, and
the King feared greatly, and his heart was troubled, and all
the city with him. Therefore, calling together the elders and
his whole senate. King Laoghaire said unto them, * It is better
for me to believe than to die.* They then took counsel, and
at the advice of his people, he believed on that day, and turned
to the Lord, the everlasting God ; and many others believed
there. And Saint Patrick said unto the King, ' Because thou
didst resist my teaching and hast been a stumbling-block unto
me, although the days of thine own reign may be prolonged,
none of thy seed shall be King for ever.' Then Saint Patrick
according to the command of the Lord Jesus, teaching the
gentiles, and baptising them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, went forth from Temoria,
and preached, the Lord working with him and confirming the
word with signs following.'^

The prediction that none of Laoghaire's des- The pre-
ccndants should sit upon his throne vv^as not filifiucd."
verified. His son Lugaidh was King of Ireland
tor five and twenty years. The Tripartite Life^
endeavours to account for this failure by adding
to the story, that an exception was made in favour

Druid: Lucetmael was clothed in est, non tetigit eum i?nis neque con-

thc garment (casula) of St. Patrick. tristatus est,' &c., although the gar-

The hut was then set on fire, but ment of the magus, in which he was

the result was, * orante Patricio,' clothed, was utterly consumed. Book

thiit the magus, in the green wood of Armagh ^ fol. 5, b.a. fol. 10, a.a.
chamber, was burnt to death, the * FoUo-uuing. IbU. fol. $,b,b. Here

t"i>ula of Patrick remaining un- we have an imitation of St. Mark,

toiichctl by the fire ; and the boy xvi. 20.

Binen came forth uninjured, *secun- * Tripartite Life, Lib.i.c. 67. 7r.

dum quod de tribus pueris dictum T/t., p. 128.

F F

434 ^^* P^t^icJts Interview with [cHAP.ni.

of Lugaidh, then in his mother's womb : the
Queen, his mother, having begged on her knees
an exemption from the malediction for the un-
born babe. Patrick replied that the malediction
should not hurt him, provided by his own de-
merits he did not bring upon himself a further
and special curse.

But this is a mode of meeting the difficulty
which can scarcely be deemed satisfactory. It is
not mentioned in the other Lives, not even in
the modern one by Joceline. Were the other
biographers ignorant that Lugaidh was the son
of King Laoghaire ? Or have they transferred to
King Laoghaire a prophecy which was originally
spoken of his son Lugaidh ?
The story That thcrc has been some tampering with this
tampered part of thc story, will be evident from the fol-
lowing account of St. Patrick's interview with
the last-named sovereign. It occurs in a Tract,
of which we have already spoken, 'On the Kings
of Ireland since Christianity,' preserved in thc
Book of Lecan^ : —

'It was in the time of Lugaidh that Patrick came into Ireland.
And he went to Temur (Tara) to the place where Lugaidh
was, and oiFered unto him wheat without tillage, and constant
milk with cattle during his time, and heaven at the end of his
life, and that he should have luck of hounds and horses, and of
a queen. But Lugaidh did not consent to this, and because
he did not, Patrick cursed him and cursed hi^ queen, namely,
Aillinn, daughter of Aengus Mac Nadfraich, King of Munster ;
so that from that time there is ill luck of queens in Temur, and

* Book of Lecan. See above, p. with a translation by Dr. Pttric,
396. An extract from this Tract T^ara HiU^ p. 86.
was first printed in the original Irish,

with.

CHAP. III.] Lugaidbf son of Laogbaire. 435

Temur has also been without success in hounds. And Lugaidh
son of Laoghaire, died at Achadh Farcha*, in consequence of
the curse of the Tailcend, for a flash of lightning struck him
dead from heaven for having rejected the Tailcend.'

Here it is expressly stated that Patrick came to Patrick'i
Ireland in the reign of Lugaidh. This is con- Z^'^^
trary to all the authorities, and would place the ^"^^*'-
arrival of Patrick after the year 463, when
Lugaidh succeeded to the throne. But this is
much too late ; and the suspicion arises that we
should read ' in the time of Laoghaire/ instead
of ' in the time of Lugaidh/ in this passage.
Dr. Pctrie, indeed, has suggested that there may
have been two missionaries both named Patrick,
one of whom appeared in the reign of Laoghaire,
and the other in that of his son Lugaidh. But
if we give any weight to this document, we
must take it according to what the author
intended ; and it is evident that the author
intended to speak only of the great St. Patrick.
The Patrick who appeared before Lugaidh is
called ' the Tailcend,' or ' Shaven-head,' the
well-known name^ of the apostle Patrick ; and
there cannot be a doubt that the Patrick whose
denunciation of Laoghaire we have just noticed,
was, according to all the authorities in which the
transaction is recorded, the apostle St. Patrick also.

The truth seems to be that the similarity of a confusion
two transactions has led to confusion; the de- the two
nunciation of King Laoghaire became mixed up

' Achadh Farcha, i.e. *The Field A.D. 503, and 0'Donovan*s note.
of Lightning.' See Four Masters^ ' ffame. See above, p. 41 1 .

F F 2-

interviews.

43 6 haogbatre and Lugaidb [chap. m.

with some particulars taken from the denuncia-
tion of King Lugaidh, son of Laoghaire. In the
shorter and older form of the Tract ' On the
Kings of Ireland since Christianity,' preserved
in the Book of Leinster^ the only mention of
St. Patrick in the reign of Lugaidh is the
notice of his death, ' [Quies] Patricii Scotorum
episcopi.' We have, therefore, good reason to
conclude that the transcriber and interpolater of
the same tract in the Book of Lec'an made some
clerical blunder when he said that Patrick came
to Ireland in the reign of Lugaidh.^
Both kings gg ^j^jg however, as it may, it is evident that

unbelievers. ' ' •' '

both kings, although generally counted among
the Christian kings of Ireland, did in fact con-
tinue to the end of their lives obstinate unbe-
lievers. It does not appear that Lugaidh ever so
much as professed Christianity. His father
Laoghaire is represented as having hypocritically
submitted to receive baptism from motives of
political expediency. But we happen to have
very strong and conclusive evidence that he died
nevertheless in Paganism.
J^"? The claim made by the kines of the Hy Neill

died a race to exact from the kings of Leinster an

I'jjjan. ^

* Leinster. See above, p. 1 84. more likely that they regarded it as

' Lugaidh. Dr. Petrie (Tara, p. a passage. corrupted by mistakes of

88) suggests that OTlaherty and transcription, and therctbre unworthy

others, who must have been ac- of notice. Such mistakes are of very

quainted with this passage in the common occurrence in the Book ef

Book of Lecarty suppressed all notice Lecan \ and the passage in question

of it designedly, from the impossi- might be set right either by reading

bility of making it square with the Laoghaire for Lugaidh, as already

received history and chronology of suggested, or else by omittiiig thie

St. Patrick's life. But it is much wonds 'to Ireland.*

CHAP. III.] both died in Paganism. 437

annual tribute of cattle, called the Boromean
tribute, was a perpetual source of feud and blood-
shed.^ The year before his death, Laoghaire, in
an attempt to enforce this tribute, was taken
prisoner at a place called Ath-dara'^, a ford on
the river Barrow. To obtain his liberty he
' gave the guarantees,' we are told^ ^ of the sun,
and of the wind, and of the elements, to the men
of Lcinster, that he would never again come
against them.' But the next year, in violation
of his engagement, he renewed the war.; ^ and
the sun and the wind killed him,' say the An- Kiiicd by
nalists, ^ because he had outraged them,' or and wind,
violated the oath made upon them.

Perhaps this may not be considered an absolute
proof of the King's Paganism. To swear by the
sun and wind was apparently no doubt Pagan-
ism. But is it not also Paganism to represent
the sun and wind as taking vengeance for the
king's breach of his oath, and visiting him with
death for his perjury ? Yet this is the language
copied by all the monastic Annalists, and even by
the Four Masters, Franciscan friars, writing in
the seventeenth century.^

' Bloodshed. See Four Masters^ thus record this event : * Cath Atho-

A.D. 106, and Dr. O'Donovan's dara for Laighaire re Laignibh [the

note ; Hy Fiachrachy p. 32. battle of Ath-dara was gained over

■' Ath-daray * Ford of the oak Laoghaire by the Leinster-men], in

tree.' This place is not to be con- quo et ipse captus est, scd tunc

founded with another of the same dimissus est junms per solem et vcn-

name, now Adarey in the County of turn se boves eis dimissurum ' [i.e.

Limerick. See the more full account that he would remit the tribute].

of this transaction, quoted by Dr. These annals also assign another

Petrie from the Leabharna huidhrCy date, a.D. 461, to the battle of Ath-

T^ara Hilly p. 169. dara, and 462 (= 463) to the death

•^ Told. See Four Masters, at a.D. of Laoghaire.

457. 'V\\t Annals of Ulster y Tit ^^%y ^Century. Wc have here a proof

438 King Laogbaire hurled [chap. m.

Laoghairc But wc havc strongct and more conclusive
the"cistomI evidence. Tirechan, in his * Annotations/ pre-
tothen. served in the Book of Armagh ^ mentions a

second visit of Patrick to King Laoghaire in the

following words : —

' And he [Patrick] went again to the city of Tara*, to Laogh-
aire son of Niall, because he had made a covenant with him
that he should not be put to death in his reign '^ but he could
not believe, saying, * For Niall my father did not permit mc
to believe, but [commanded] that I should be buried on the
ramparts of Tara [in cacuminibw Temro)^ as men stand up in
battle ;' for the gentiles are wont to be buried in their sepulchres
armed, with weapons ready, face to face, until the day of
Erdathe^ as the Magi call it, that is, the Day of Judgment of
the Lord. * I the son of Niall [must be buried] after this
fashion, as the Son of Dunlaing [was buried] at Maistin, in the
plain ofLiiFey, because of the endurance of our hatred/^

Another version of the same story, first printed
by Dr. Petrie, from the antient Irish Manuscript

of the remark already made, that at Tara, a.d. 222 (Ti^h.) or 241
this class of superstitions, like the (4 M.). This outrage laid the found-
belief in witchcraft, lingered in the ation of the odium spoken of. Pc-
Church to a late period, and that trie, On Tara^ p. 36. O'Flaherty,
an invocation of the sky, the sea, Ogyg,, p. 335. Maistin b the place
the sun, and wind, such as we find now called Mullaghmasty antiently
in the Hymn of St. Patrick, would a palace or rath of the Kuigt of
not have been necessarily regarded Leinster. The concluding clause is
two centuries ago as inconsistent with obscure. ' Ego iilius Neul et fiiius
orthodoxy. Dunlinge imMaistin in campo Liphi

* Book of Armagh^ fol. 10, a, b, pro duritate odivi^ ut est hoc.'
Petrie, On Tara, p. 1 70. Duritas signifies perpetuity, evcr-

* Tara. * Ad civitatem Temro,* lastingness 5 but it might mean,
the city of Tcmur j Temro being the hardness, bitterness. His enemy
genitive case : we have also Temrach, having been buried in his armour in
another form of the genitive. See his royal fortress, Laoghaire felt
above, p. 416 », 418 n. bound to follow the injunctions of

' Ketgn. Or in his kingdom, his father, and to be buried at Tara

' in regno iilius." in the same way, to show the implac-

* Hatred. * Pro duritate odivi,' ability of the finid. This P^gan
i.e. odii : odi<vum for odium. The mode of interment continued to a
Dunlaing (genitive Dunlinge) here late period. Eoghan Beul, Ki&gof
mentioned was the Kine of Leinster, Connaught, ordered himself to be so
by whom the royal girls were mur- buried, A.D. 537. G^Domnrail, Hj
dered at the place called Claenferta, Fiachrach, p. 472.

CHAP. HI.] in the Fagan Manner. 439

called the Leahbar na butdbrey gives this com-
mentary on the foregoing passage of Tirechan,
which the author evidently had before him : —

'The body of Laoghaire was brought afterwards from the
South', and interred with his armour of valour^, in the south-east
of the outer rampart of the royal Rath of Laoghaire at Tara,
with his face turned southwards upon the men of Leinster, as
fighting with them, for he was the enemy of the Leinster-men
in his lifetime.'

There is curious internal evidence of authen-
ticity in these traditions. It is clear that King
Laoghaire never w^as a real convert to Christian-
ity ; and that the historians who have reckoned
him among the Christian kings of Ireland have
mistaken or corrupted^ the facts of history.

Leaving the court of King Laoghaire, Patrick, Patrick's
we are told, went to Aonach^ Tailltenn, now wS'^ol^bri
Tclltown, in the County of Meath, where there ^"'^^^^
w as at the time a great concourse of people, with
games and sports of various kinds. There Carbri,
or Cairpri, son of Niall, brother of Laoghaire,
sought to kill him, and caused his attendants to
be beaten in the river Sele, now the Blackwater.
Patrick denounced him as ' the enemy of God,'
and said to him, ^ Thy seed shall serve the seed

^ South. That is from Ath- so far as to maintain, on the autho-

(lara, which, if it was on the Barrow, rity of the Scholia on Aengus, that

mu>t have been south of Tara. Niall, the father of King Labghaire,

^ Armour of 'valour. * Co narai had died a Christian, and was even

gaiscuid,' ///. < With arms of hero- regarded as a saint. But there is

ship or championship.' nothing of the kind in the Dublin

^ Corrupted. Colgan (7r. Th., or Brussels copies of those Scholia.

p. 173, col. 2, «. 28) questions the * Aonach. This word signifies a

story of Laoghaire having been fair, or assembly. It is rendered

buried as a heathen. But his rea- Agon regale by Tirechan. Book o£

sons are singularly weak. He goes Armagh, fol. lo, a, b.

440 Conversion of Conall Mac NeilL [chap. ui.

Another

unfulfilled

prophecy.

of thy brethren, and there shall be no king of thy
race for ever. Moreover, there shall never here-
after be large fish in the river Sele.'

It is remarkable that we have here also a pro-
phecy that was not fulfilled. For Tuathal Mael-
garb, the grandson of Carbri, was king of Ireland
from A.D. 533, to 544. It is difficult to account
for such oversights in the inventors of these
legends. The author of the Tripartite Life
endeavours to explain this by a story too silly to
require notice.^

Patrick next met with Conall mac Neill, sur-
MacNeiu. uamcd Gulbun^y the youngest brother of King
Laoghaire, who received him in his own house
with great joy, and was baptised. He gave the site
of a church, sixty feet long, for the God of Patrick,
measuring it with his own feet. It was after-
wards called ^the Great Church of Patrick;' and
Patrick blessed him, saying, ' The seed of thy
brethren shall serve thy seed for ever ; and thou
must shew kindness to my successors after me for
ever, and thy children and children's children to

CoRversion
of Conall

» Notice, Sec Ht. Trip., lib. ii.
c. 27. The story is briefly this : —
The mother of King Tuathal, then
pregnant, is brought to Patrick j he
raises his hand to bless her, but stops
short, perceiving by inspiration that
the child in her womb is of the
accursed family of Carbri. But in-
asmuch as he had raised his hand to
•bless, Tuathal succeeded to the
throne, and was the last king of his
race. See Colgan, f^it. ^a, note 45,
Tr. Th. p. 31. This story is exactly
similar to the explanation given of
the fiiilure of St. Patrick's prophecy

against the posterity of King Laogh-
aire. See above, p. 433*

* Gulban. He had this name from
the mountain called Binn Gulban,
now corruptly Binn Bulbin, in the
parish of Drumcliffcy County of
Sligo, where he was fostered. Battle
of Magk RatA, p. 31a m. From
him the antient tribes inhabiting
the County of Donegal were called
Cinel-Conaill, and Tir-ConailL He
was the ancestor of St. Columba
and many saints, as well as of many
of the kings of Ireland, down to the
eleventh century.

CHAP. III.] Baptism of Ercc. 441

my believing children, must do what is legiti-
mate for ever.'^ He added, ' If this church be
encroached on (dimhiuatur), thy reign shall not
be long nor durable.'

These words are worthy of notice. It appears
from them that this prophecy had for its object
to support the jurisdiction of the see of Armagh.
The legend must have been written at a time
when that jurisdiction was called in question, or
at least was not universally received in Ireland.

We must now pass over all that we find in the churches
Lives of St. Patrick of his missionary labours in Bregi^ *
Bregia, and other parts of the territory belonging
to the Southern Hy Neill. We have the names
of a great number of Churches said to have been
founded by him in that district. Many of these,
however, are undoubtedly of later date. The
bishops said to have been ordained by him, and
left in those churches, belong for the most part,
to the century, or second century, after his death.
The dates ^ of their obits recorded in the Irish
annals have betrayed the truth. But some of
them may have been real disciples and contem-
poraries of St. Patrick.

The conversion of Ercc mac Dego, who after- Baptism of
wards became an eminent bishop of Slane, has
been already'^ mentioned. Tirechan gives the
following account of his baptism : —

' For ever. This passage is ob- fol. lo, a.h,

scure. * Et tu misericordiam dcbcs * The dates. Sec Lanigan, vol.

farcre heredibus meis pobt me in i. p. 237, /y. Many of them appear

scculum, et filii tui et fiiionim tuo- to have died at the end of the 6tn or

rum filiis meis credulis legitimum middle of the 7th century.

^eInpite^num.* Book of Armaghy * Already, See above, p. 422.

442 Meeting of St. Patrick [chap. m.

'And he [Patrick] entered into the King's Palace, and they
rose not up before him, except one man only, namely, Hercus
Sacrilegus.* And he said unto him, * Why didst thou alone
rise up to me in honour of my God ? ' And Hercus said,

* Why I know not — I see sparks of fire going up from thy lips to
my lips.' Then the Saint said unto him, * Wilt thou receive the
Baptism of the Lord, which I have with me ? ' He answered,

* I will receive it*' And they came to the fountain Loigles
(as it is in the Scotish tongue, with us the Calf of the Cities^ \)
and when he had opened his book, and had baptised the man
Hercus, he heard men behind his back mocking him one to an-
other, about that matter; for they knew not what he had done.
And he baptised many thousand' men on that day. And be-
tween some of the baptismal sentences, behold, he overheard two
chieftains conversing together behind him \ and one said to the
other, ^ It is true what thou saidst to me a year ago, that thou
wouldst come here at this time. Tell me, I pray thee, thy
name, and the name of thy &ther, and of thy territory, and of
thy land, and where thy home is.' And the other answering,
said, ' I am [Endeus] son of Amolngid^, son of Fiachra, son of
Eochaidh, from the western regions, from the plain of Domnon,
and from the Wood of Fochloth.' And when Patrick heard the
name of the Wood of Fochloth, he rejoiced greatl}^, and said
unto Endeus, son of Amolngid, ' I also will go with thee, if I be
alive, because the Lord said unto me to go.' And Endeus said,
' Thou shalt not go forth with me, lest we be both slain.' And
the Saint said, ' On the contrary, thou shalt never reach thine
own country alive unless I go with thee, and thou shalt not

* SacriUgus, This word is gene- Sec Pctrie, Tara^ p. i66.
rally used in a bad sense. Dr. Petrie ^ Mamif tkomand, ' Tot milia
suggests that it may here mean a hominum/ This seemv a quota-
lawyer. Tara HiUfp. 167. Ere is tion from the Confrtsiony sect. as.
called a magus, Book of Armaghy Fillan, p. 106. Ware^ p. 19.
fol. 4, a. b. He died, according to * Amolfigid, Or Amalgaidh ;
Tighernach,A.D.5i 3. Tircchan says, pronounced AwIcy. From him the

* in qua [ecclesia Ceme] sepultus est barony of Tir-awlcy, Co. of Mayo,
Hercus qui portavit mortalitatem takes its name. See his genealogyv
magnam.' IbtJ., t'ol. 10, a. a. This Introd. Table I. p. 149. Magh
seems to mean that he died of the Domnon, in lomis Domhnann, b
great pestilence, which first appeared now the barony of Erris, in the
about A.D. 530. N.W. of the Co. of Mayo. See

^ Calf of the Cities, < Vitulus 0'Donovan*s Tribes emd Cmstmm of

civitatum.* Laog, a calf; Les, a Hy FiacAracA,]f,^z^stt, For Endeus

fort or civitas. This was a well orEnnaandhisde«:en(unts,MCp.t5,

within the fort or enclosure of Tara. ibiJ, His name is there spehAMMie.

CHAP. III.] with the Sons of Amalgaidb. 443

have eternal life ; for it was on my account thou earnest hither,
like Joseph* before the children of Israel.' And Endeus said
unto Patrick, ' Give baptism unto my son, for he is of tender
years ; but I and my brothers cannot believe until we come to
our own people, lest they should mock us.' * So Conall * was
baptised ; and Patrick pronounced a blessing upon him, and
took him by the hand, and gave him to Cethiac the bishop, and
Cethiac and Mucne the brother of Bishop Cethiac, whose
relics are in the Great Church of Patrick in the Wood of
Fochloth^j brought him up and taught him. Wherefore Cethiac
gave over his own island to Conall, and it belongs to his family
to the present day, for he was a layman * after the death of St.
Cethiac'

Our author then goes on to tell us that the Patrick
appearance of the sons of Amalgaidh at the court thcsoiwof
of King Laoghaire was owing to a dispute about ^ ^^
their inheritance. Enna is said to have been the
eldest son, and six of his brothers^ for what
reason we do not know, questioned his right to
succeed to the property. They resolved to sub-
mit the question to the supreme king at Tara,
and this was the business which brought them
there when Patrick met them. It is evident,

^ Like Joseph. The meaning is, n. For St. Mucne, or Mucna, see

* The providence of God has brought Colgan, Actt, SS. (4 March^, p.
thee here to meet me, as the same 457. For Cethiach, or Cethecn, see
providence sent Joseph into Egypt, Mart, of Donegal^ at 16 of June.
to save the lives ot his father and Vit, Trip. ii. 41 j and Colgan*s note,
brethren.' Tr, Th.y p. 176, n. 81.

'^ Mock us. Meaning not * lest * A layman. This is a curious

our own people should mock us," but, proof that the celibacy of the clergy

* lest the people amongst whom we was the rule of the Irish Church in
now are, should mock us," as they our author's time.

did Hercus. * Of his brothers. Amalgaidh is

^ Conall : viz. the son of Endeus. said to have had eight sons (of whom

'^ Fochloth. * In sylva Fochlithi.* Endeus or Enna was the eldest) by

It will be observed that Fochciithi^ his wife Tresi, sister of Aengus

or Foc/ilothif is the genitive of Foch- Mac Nadfraich, Kine of Munster 5

luth. The Great Church, or Domh- and seven sons byano£er wife, Erca,

nach mor of St. Patrick, no longer daughter of Eochaidh^ King of

exists, but the name is still preserved. Leinster. O'Donovan, Hy ftach-

C Donovan, Hy Fiachrach, p. 463, rach^ p- 5- 9'

444 Conversion of Enna. [chap. m.

therefore, that at this time their father was dead.
It is difficult to imagine that any dispute about
inheritance could have arisen amongst the sons
during their father's lifetime. Tirechan says
nothing about Amalgaidh, or of his conversion
to Christianity. The meeting of Patrick with
Enna and his brethren must therefore have taken
place after the year 449, in which year, according
to the Four Masters, their father died ; and the
story^ that Amalgaidh was the first Christian
king of Connaught is a mistake.

The decision of Laoghaire, in which Patrick
concurred, was this, that the seven sons of
Amalgaidh should divide the inheritance equally
amongst them, with recognition, however, of
Enna's right to the chieftainship. Our author
proceeds : —

^ And Enna said, ^ I dedicate (immolo) my son and my portion
of the inheritance to the God of Patrick and to Patrick.* For
this reason, some say that we are the servants of Patrick to the
present day.'

These last words are obscure. It does not
appear of whom Tirechan speaks when he says
' that we are the servants of Patrick.' Nothing
is known of his genealogy or history, except what
he tells us himself, that he was the disciple of St.
Ultan^ of Ardbraccan. If he was a descendant

* Story. The Tripartite Life, ii. c. 59, says nothing of the baptism

87, j»ays, * Eo die septem AmaJgadii of Amalgaidh.

Alios cum ipso rege et duodecim « St. Ultan. Ultan was Bisbop of

millibus hominum Christo lucrifecit, the Dal-Conchobhar, a tribe of the

et in fontc qui Tohur-enadharc nun- O'Connors of Mcath, and a bnmch

cupatur omncs baptizavit/ Jocclin, of the Dcsii of Bregia. See above.

CHAP. III.] Patrick visits Tirawley. 445

of Enna, and connected by clanship with the
district of Tirawley, the foregoing word? may
mean, that, in consequence of Enna's donation,
he and the tribe, or perhaps the monastic family
to which he belonged, ought to be under the
jurisdiction of Armagh. The passage deserves
notice as proving (if this be its meaning) that in the
seventh century the jurisdiction of Armagh ex-
tended only to those districts or churches which
had been granted in fee, or were alleged to have
been so granted, to St. Patrick or his successors.

Tirechan further tells us that Patrick made a He traveu
league with the sons of Amalgaidh, for a safe
passage to their country. This agreement was
sanctioned by the authority of King Laoghaire,
and Patrick set out accompanied by a body of
laymen and holy bishops. He paid also, says our
author^ a sum of money in gold and silver, equal
to ' the price of fifteen souls of men, as he him-
self in his writing declares, ut in scriptione sua
affirmat, to protect his company from the attacks
of bad men, in his passage straight across all
Ireland.'

There is here an evident reference to the Con-
fession as the undoubted work of St. Patrick.
The passage alluded to is as follows ; after

p. 2 1 3. He Is generally supposed to ^ Our author, * Et extendit [? ex-
have been himself of that family. pendit] Patricius etiam pretium .xu.
But the Mart. Donegal (4 Sept.) animanim hominum ' [i.e. perhaps
makes him a descendant of Irial, son the price of 1 5 slaves], * ut in scrip-
of Conall Cearnach. He is always tionesuaadfirmat,deargentoetaurOy
called Mac Ua Conchobhair, or Mac ut nullum malorum hominum impe-
Ui Conchobhair See Fit. Trip. i. deret eos in via recta transeuntes
c. 69. (Tr. T/i. p. 129.) O'Curry's totam Hibemiam.' Book of Armagh,
Lectures, App. cvi. p. 607 — 8. fol. 10, b. b.

44^ His Provision against the Cchaf. m.

indignantly repudiating the charge^ of taking
money from his converts, the author adds : —

* Nay, I rather expended money for you as &r as I was able*;
and I went among you, and everywhere, for your sakes, in
many dangers, even to those extreme ' regions, beyond which
no man was, and whither no man had ever gone to baptise or
ordain clergy, or confirm the people, where, by the gift of the
Lord, I did all things diligently, and most gladly, for your salva-
tion. At the same time I gave presents to the Kings, besides
the cost of keeping their sons who walked with me, in order
that they should not seize me with my companions.^ And on
that day {in ilia die) they most eagerly desired to kill me, but
the time was not yet come : yet they plundered everything
they found with us, and bound me in irons ; but on the four-
teenth day the Lord delivered me from their power : and what-
ever was ours was restored to us, through God, and by the help
of the close friends whom we had before provided. But you
know how much I expended upon those who were judges^
throughout all the districts which I used more frequendy to
visit. And I think I paid them the price of not less than
fifteen men, that so you might enjoy me, and that I may
always enjoy you in the Lord. I do not repent of it, yea, it is
not enough for me. I still spend, and will spend more. The
Lord is mighty to give me more hereafter, that I may spend
myself for your souls.* (2 Cor. xii. 15.)*

* Charge. See above, p. 409, n. says he was. Perhaps * in ilia die *

' As far as I *was able. So I may mean no noore than * one daj,*

venture to translate * ut me cape- as Mr. Olden renders it.
ret.' The BoUandist text reads « Judges. * Qui judicabant.* The

' caperent/ which makes no sense. BoUandist copy reads, * indigebant/

' Extreme. * Usque ad exteras which spoils the argument,
partes, ubi nemo ultra erat.' An- • Ivr your somls. Ware, Opmsc.,

other reading is 'extremas partes.' p. 19, 20. FiiUm,^ sect, aa, 23. The

^ Companions. I have paraphrased foregoing passage is not in the Book

this passage according to what seems of Armagh : but, as it is so plainly

the meaning, 'Intereapraemiadabam referred to by Tirechan, it must

reeibus propter [pneter, Boll.^ quod have been in his copy of the Con-

dabam mercedem filiis ipsorum qui fession in the seventh century, when

mecum ambulabant, et nihil \^aL the original autograph was u exist*

non] comprehendcrunt me [et nihi- ence. We must, Uierefore, be cauti-

lominus comprehendcrunt me, BolI.'\, ous in rejecting the evidence of what

cum comitibus meis." Read, ' Ut I have for convenience-sake called

non comprehenderent me/ It does ' the interpolations,* that is the pas-

not appear on what day he was sages not in the Book of AnBagk.
plundered, and put in chains as he

CHAP. III.] Dangers of the Journey. 447

It is highly probable that by the extreme or hjs danger
distant regions mentioned in this passage, to rmgtoCon,
which no Christian missionary had penetrated, °*"^
the western coasts of Connaught were intended ;
and we may well believe that the journey
across the island to those wild and uncivilized
tribes was fraught with danger of no ordinary
kind. ^'

The Tripartite Life records many imminent
dangers escaped by St. Patrick during his journey
westward, caused by the malice of the Druids,
and by the disappointment of the brethren of
Enna, who had lost their cause in the court of
King Laoghaire. In crossing the Shannon, he
discovered the antient altar with the glass
chalices, of which we have already^ spoken.
This story assumes that Christianity had pene-
trated into the eastern borders of Connaught
before St. Patrick. But it may, nevertheless,
have been true that no missionary had ever
before reached the distant region around Croach-
aigli", or the territories of lorrus, Tir-Fhiachrach,
and Tir-Amalgaidh, which it was his purpose
now to visit.

Having crossed the river Moy, he entered this hc arrives
last-named district, and made his way to the Foc^hiut!
wood of Fochlut, of which he had dreamt many
years before, and which had clung ever since to
his imagination. There, Tirechan tells us, two

^ AlreaJy. See above, p. 222. Co. of Mayo. lorrus is now Erris.

"^ Croach-aigli. * Hill of the Tir-Fhiachrach^ and Hr-Jmalgaidh^

Eagle,' now Croagh Patrick, or arc the baronies of Tireragh and

Patrick's Rick, in the S.W. of the Tirawley.

44^ He preaches to the Clan [chap. m.

virgins^ met him, to whom he gave the veil, and
w^hom he established in a place over the wood
Fochlut. More recent legend-makers say that
these were the children whose voices were heard
in Italy, and, according to one authority^ by Pope
Celestinc himself, calling out of their mothers'
wombs to Patrick to come and baptise them.
Their names were Crebrea and Lassair; they
were the daughters of a chieftain named Gleran,
son of Cumin. Their relics were preserved
at the church of Kil-fhorclann^, on the west-
ern banks of the Moy, about a mile west of
Crosspatrick.
He preaches Patrick then went to the place of assembly of
Amaigaidh. thc clau Amalgaidh, which was called Forracb^
mete n Amalgaidh J near the wood of Fochlut, and
not far from the present town of Killala. Here,
according to the Tripartite Life ^ he found a great

1 Tivo *virgins. *Et ecce il. filiac * Forrack, This word signifies a

venierunt ad Patricium et acciperunt piece of ground in which thc mcet-

palllum de manu ejus &c/ Book of ings or assemblies of a clan were heki.

Armagh J fol. 14, b. b. Forrach meic nAmalgaidk b the

* Authority, Namely, the Scho- assembly -eround of the tribe Mac-

liast on Fiacc, Tr. Th.y p. 5 j and Amalgaidh. Tirechan spells the

see also Fit. Trip. ii. c. 86. Jocel. word Forrgea, Dr. O'Donovanhas

c. 38. The names of these virgins shown that this place is in the present

do not occur in the Irish Calendars, parish ofBaHisakeery,nearthe mouth

nor in the Sanctilegium Genealogi- of the Mov, between Ballina and

cum. In some forms of the Legend Killala. The name still survives in

they are called pueri and infantuU. the townland of Farr«^^, within that

See above, p. 313, 327. parish ; and there are two hills (he

^ KU-fhofclann. So we learn from says) in the neighbourhood whose

the Scholia on Fiacc's Hymn, and names indicate tnat they were an-

the Tripartite Life. Dr. O^Dono- tiently places of assembly; vii.,

van has ascertained the site of this MuUach Fharraidh (HilltoD of the

church, of which no ruins now exist. assembly), and Oror-tf-/f9JiM (Hill oi

See his Correspondence from Mayo the meeting). CorrespQndenee^May^

(June 2, 1838), Ordnance MSS. (Ordnance MSS.) 17 May, 1S3S,

Rojal Irish Acad, p. 235. Hy Fia- p. 59. Hy Fiachrach^ p. 467.

chrachy p. 467. * Tripartite Life. Lib. ii.c. $7.

CHAP. III.] Baptises large Numbers. 449

assemblage of the people, with their chieftains.
He stood up and addressed the multitude. ' He
penetrated the hearts of all/ says our author,
^ and led them to embrace cordially the Christian
faith and doctrine.' The seven sons of Amal-
gaidh, with the king himself^ and twelve thou-
sand men, w^ere baptised.^ They were baptised
in a well called Tohur-en-adarc? And St. Patrick
left with them as their pastor St. Manchen^ sur-
namcd the Mastery a man of great sanctity, well
versed in Holy Scripture.

There is mention also of a great baptism^ of Festival of
some thousands at Tara, at the baptism of Ere of Patrick,
mac Dego ; and St. Patrick, in his writings,
speaks more than once of having baptised large
numbers of men. It was evidently believed that
his preaching was followed on more than one
occasion by the simultaneous conversion of great
multitudes. This may have given occasion to
the institution of the festival which we find in
the Irish Calendars of the ninth and tenth

^ The king himself. Not the dratam/ because there was no wood

father of the seven sons, who, as we (sylva) near. Book of Armagh^ fol.

have seen, must have been dead, but i^yb.b. The earthen churches of that

as Colgan suggests, the new chief- age were, therefore, most probably

tain, namely, Enna, who had sue- round.

reeded to nis father's rights. Tr, * Tobur-en-adarc, * The well of

T//., p. 180, «. 138. one horn,' so called, as the Irish

* Baptised. Tirechan, although Tripartite Life tells us, from a hom-

lic mentions the visit of St. Patrick like hill in the vicinity. The more

to Foirrgea filiorum Amolngid, says correct spelling would be Tobttr^

nothing of the great baptism there. oen-adharca.

He tells us that Patrick went there * St, Manchen. If this was the

* ad dividendum inter filios Amoln- Manchen who lived to 652, he could
gid,' to divide their inheritance not have been a contemporary of St.
among them; and that he built Patrick. See Colgan, Tr. TA., p. m,
there a square church of earth, n. 67. Ussher, tForks^ vi. 426.

* aeclesiam terrenam de humo qua- * Baptism. Sec above, p. 442..

G G

450 Festival of PatricJis Baptism. [chaf. m.

centuries on the 5th of April. The Calendar^ of
Aengus on that day has the lines,

Baithes Patraic primda
Attranned ineri.

The Baptism of noble Patrick
Was ignited' in Erinn.

and the Martyrology of Tamlacht interprets this,
* Baptisma Patricii venit in Hiberniam/

It is evident, therefore, that this festival was
not the day on w^hich Patrick was himself bap-
tised, but the day on which * his baptism,* that
is to say, his ministry as a missionary, was found
to be preeminently successful. The Scholiast on
the Calendar of Aengus says that it was the day
on which Sinell^, his first convert, was baptised.
But it is much more probable that it was in-
tended to commemorate the simultaneous bap-
tism of large numbers of men of which he him-
self speaks in the Confession.^

* Calendar. See also Martyrol. vear 49 3 , and it was obseircd that
of Donegal, at 5th April. in that year the 1 7th of March fell <m

' Ignited. Or reading Adroined, Wednesday. This fact sseems to have

*yizs performed.* given birth to the story that Patrick

3 Stnell. See above, p. 344. washom and baptised and died on the

* Confession. See Lanigan, £rr/. same day of the week — ^'TriceadaiDC
Hist. i. 233 : a tradition quoted by Patraic, a gen, a bathais, a bas *^
Ussher from the Book of Sligo, which is literally^ * The three Wed-
states that Patrick's * birth, baptism, nesdays of Patrick, his birth, his
and death took place on a Wednes- baptism, his death/ See Ussbcr,
day." From this Lanigan has en- IVorkSy vi. p. 444. A similar legend
deavoured to prop up the year 43 3 is told of S. Columba, that he was
as the year of the first Easter in bom, baptised, and died on Whit-
Ireland, because on that year the 5th Sunday. Reeves, Adamtum^ p. 311.
April fell on Wednesday. But the So also St. Brieid was born, veUed,
Wednesdav tradition has nothing to and died on Wednesday, Tr. Tk.^
do with the festival of the 5th of p. 619, which is gtren in another
April ; and Ussher has rightly in- form. Book rf Lecam^ foL 45, aJk,
terpreted it. It was the general It would be ridiculous to treat such
opinion, founded perhaps on antient fables as history.

tradition, that Patrick died in the

CHAP. III.] Daughters of King Laogbatre. 451

The following curious anecdote is recorded by story of
Tirechan, and repeated with more or less varia- Laoghaire's
tion in the Lives. It is generally told as having "^
taken place before the events just noticed ;
whilst Patrick was still in Connaught. Whether
true or false, it is worthy of being quoted as a
specimen of what was believed to have been his
manner of teaching.

It appears that King Laoghaire had two
daughters, named Ethne the fair, and Fedelm
the ruddy. He had sent them, for what reason
is not explained, to his relatives in Connaught,
and placed them under the care of two Druids
or magi, named Mael and Caplit. Patrick was
at Crochan, or Cruachan^ the royal cemetery of
the kings of Ireland of the race of Herimon, and
a very antient residence of the kings of Connaught,
in the county of Roscommon. There was a well
or fountain called Clebacb, on the side of the
fort, looking towards the east. There Patrick
and his attendants assembled one morning at
sunrise. He selected, perhaps, the place and
hour with the hope of conciliating some Pagan
superstitions. Tirechan says that the virgins
found Patrick at the well with a synod of bishops,

^ Cruachan. Now Rath-croghan, Queen of Connaught. O'Flaherty,

near Belanagare. Antiently, Oenach Ogyg, p. 267, sq. Rath Croghan was .

Cruachan. See the Tract called an antient fort of the Gamanradii, a

* History of Cemeteries/ publ. by Dr. tribe of the Fir-bolg, or Belgx. It

Petrie, Round TtrjuerSy p. 100, 104. was called, originally, Drum-na-

The correct orthography of this ndruad [Mount of the Druids], and

name k Crochan, so called from Tulach Aichnc, which may signify

Crochan Crobderg [the red hand], * Hill of Pleaders,' but the meaninjjr

wife of Eochaid Feilioc (King of ofi^/V^w is uncertain. SeeDr.O'Do-

Ireland, A.M. 3922), and mother of novan's valuable account of this place,

the celebrated Medbh, or Maud, Four MifJt,^ a.d. 1223, not. '.

G G 2

452 Patricks Instruction [chap. m.

senodum sanctorum eptscoporum ; but it is probable
that by this word our author means only an
assembly or company, not a synod properly so
called. It will be better, however, to tell the
story in the exact words of that antient historian*,
translated as closely as possible : —

Then St. Patrick came to the well [adfontem) which is called
Clebachy on the sides of Crochan towards the east ; and before
sunrise they [i.e. Patrick and his followers] sat down near
the well. And lo ! the two daughters of King Laoghaire,
Ethne the feir {alba\ and Fedelm the ruddy {rufa\ came
early to the well, to wash^, after the manner of women, and
they found near the well a synod of holy Bishops with
Patrick. And they knew not whence they were, or in what
form, or from what people, or from what country ; but they
supposed them to be Duine Sidhe' {viros Sidhe)^ or gods of
the earth, or a phantasm.

And the virgins said unto them, 'Where are ye ? and whence
come ye ? '

And Patrick said unto them, 'It were better for you to
confess to our true God, than to enquire concerning our race.*

The first virgin said *,

' Who is God ?

' And where is God ?

' And of what [nature] is God ?

' And where is His dwelling-place ?

* Has your God sons and daughters, gold and silver ?

' Is He everliving ?

* Historian. Book of Armagh, by the Irish to the fmriet^ men of

fol. 12, a.a. the hills; the word SidMe^ or SiodAM^

' To <wajh, 'More mulienim signifies the habitations supposed
ad lavandum mane uenierunt/ to belong to these aerial beings in
Whether this means to wash them- the hollows of the hills and moon-
selves, or to wash their clothes, the tains. Ogj^. ib. It b doubtful
reader must decide. O'Flaherty re- whether the word is cognate with
marks that this passage shows the the Latin sedis^ or from a Celtic
simplicity of antient manners. The root, /i</r, a blast, a wind.
King's daughters go down to wash ^ Said. The following singular
at a well in the open air, and at break catechism is written in the Boml of
of day. Ogyg. p. 200. Armagh, in lines, as here repre-

^ buine Sidhe. ' The men of sented. This page is nearly oblitcr-
Sidhey or phantoms, the name given ated in the onginal MS.

CHAP. III.] to the Daughters ofLaogbaire. 453

*Is He beautiful.?

* Did many foster His Son ?

* Are His daughters dear ^ and beauteous to men of the
world ?

* Is He in heaven or in earth ?

* In the sea ?

* In rivers ?

* In mountainous places ?

* In valleys ?

* Declare unto us the knowledge of Him,

* How shall He be seen ?
'How is He to be loved ?

* How is He to be found i

* Is it in youth ?

* Is it in old age, that He is to be found ? *

But St. Patrick, full of the Holy Ghost, answered and said,

* Our God is the God of all men.

' The God of heaven and earth, of the sea and rivers.
' The God of the sun, the moon, and all stars.

* The God of the high mountains, and of the lowly vallies.

' The God who is above heaven, and in heaven, and under
heaven.

' He hath a habitation in the heaven ' and the earth and the
sea, and all that are therein.

* He inspireth all things.
'He quickeneth all things.
' He is over all things.

' He sustaineth all things.

' He giveth light to the light of the sun.

' Lumen noctis et notitias valat.*

' And He hath made springs in a dry ground,

' And dry islands in the sea,

' And hath appointed the stars to serve the greater lights.

^ Dear. * Carae et pulchrae sunt * Lumen noctis splendore suo pcr-

homlnibus mundi/ O'Flaherty lustrat.' The other Lives all evade

reads, or rather interprets, * Clarae the difficulty. The Irish Tripartite

et pulchriores homimbus mundi.' quotes the whole of this dialogue in

Ogyg. p. 201. the original Latin of Tirechan, but

- Hea'ven. « Habet habitaculum shortens this clause into * solis lumen

crga coelum et terram, et mare, et illuminat et lumen lunx,* and Col-

omnla quae sunt in eis." gan makes it * Ab ipso mundi lumi-

'^ FaUit, This line I know not how naria sol et luna suum lumen parti-
te translate. Probus (i. 14) reads, cipant.* Tr, TA,, p. 135.

454 Patrick's Instruction [chaf. m.

* He hath a Son co-eternal and co-equal {consimilem) with
Himself.

' The Son is not younger than the Father,

' Nor is the Father older than the Son,

' And the Holy Ghost breatheth in them {inflat in eis).

* The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are not
divided [non separantur).

^ But I desire to unite you to the Heavenly King, inasmuch
as you are the daughters of an earthly King — to believe* *
And the virgins said, as with one mouth and one heart —

* Teach us most diligently how we may believe in the
Heavenly King. Show us how we may sec Him face to &cc,
and whatsoever thou shalt say unto us, we will do/

And Patrick said,

' Believe ye that by baptism ye put oflF the sin of your father
and your mother ? * — They answered, ' We believe.*
' Believe ye in repentance after sin ? * — ^ We believe.*

* Believe ye in life after death ? Believe ye the resurrection
at the Day of Judgment ? * — * We believe.*

* Believe ye the Unity of the Church ? * — ^ We believe.*
And they were baptised ; and a white garment put upon their

heads. And they asked to see the ftice of Christ. And the
Saint said unto them, ^ Ye cannot see the face of Christ, except
ye taste of death, and except ye receive the Sacrifice.*

And they answered, ^ Give us the Sacrifice, that we may
behold the Son our Spouse.*

And they received the Eucharist of God, and they slept in
death (dormierunt in morte).

And they were laid out on one bed, covered with garments :
and [their friends] made great lamentation and weeping for them.

And the Magus Caplit, who had fostered one of them, came
and wept, and Patrick preached unto him, and he believed, and
the hairs of his head were taken off.

And his brother Mael came and said, ^ My brother hath be-
lieved in Patrick, but it shall not be so [with me] \ yea, I shall
bring him back to Paganism, and to Milthous.' '

' Belie<ve. * Crcdcrc,' which per- of any deity of the Pagan Irish

haps ought to be credite, called Milthous. Could the mcmniiig

* Milthous. * Scd revcrtam eum be, * I will bring back Pitrick to

in gentilitatem, et ad Milthoum/ Paganism, and to his former master

This mention of Milthous is omitted Milchu/ Or perhaps, by Milthous,

in all the Lives. There is no record he means Mael, i.e. himself.

CHAP. III.] to the Daughters of Laogbatre. 455

And he spake harsh words to Patrick, and Patrick spake to
him and preached to him, and converted him to the repentance
of God : and the hairs of his head were taken ofF — that is, the
magical rule ^ [which] was seen on his head, as is said, air bacc
giunnoe.

It was of him was spoken that most celebrated of ail Scotic
proverbs, * Calvus^ is become like Caplit.*

And they believed in God. And the days of mourning
[ululatlonis) for the king's daughters were accomplished, and
they buried them near the well Clebach ; and they made a
circular ditch, like to a Ferta^ j because so the Scotic people
and gentiles were used to do ; but with us it is called Reliquia^^
that is, the remains of the virgins. And this Ferta was granted
[immolata est) with the bones of the holy virgins to Patrick and
to his heirs {heredibus) after him for ever. And he made a
Church of earth in that place.

This remarkable story bears internal evidence Authen-
of high antiquity; it was evidently written when itory.**
Paganism was not yet extinct in the country.
It represents Patrick as consenting to follow the

^ Rule. * Et ablati sunt capIUi quae prius in capite ejus videbatur.'
capitis illius i.e. norma magica in ii. i6. 7r. Th.y p. 58.
capite videbatur, «/> bacc Ml d\Q\tMr * Cal'vus. The name of the Druid
giunnde.^ * The fashion or rule of Af^ir/ signifies Calvus, or the bald.
the magicians was seen on his head." Our author gives the proverb thus,
Tliis seems to allude to a sort of * Similis est Calvus contra Caplit,*
tonsure worn by the Druids or magi, where contra signifies, in comparison
although the Tripartite Life (ii. 46) with, one set against the other.
explains it that both Caplit and There must be some allusion to the
Mael on this occasion received the shaven heads of the converted magi:
7nonastic tonsure. This cannot pos- the proverb seems applicable to any-
sibly be so. The Irish words car thing strange or unexpected.
hacc g'tunna signify * as a band [or ' Ferta, We have had an in-
bond] of hell (Gehenna),' meaning stance of the use of this word in the
that the Druidical tonsure was a antient name of Slane. See p. 410,
symbol of damnation. It seems quite supra. It is employed in Irish to
dear that the author intended to signify a sepulchral mound of clay,
say, not that these magi had received covered with grass. See Petrie, /{0k^/
any form of Christian tonsure, but 7oai;^/,p.io6. />r/a denotes almost
tliat their hair was cut off to remove always a Pagan cemetery, as the
all remains of their Pagan or Drui- above passage clearly intimates.
dical tonsure. Probus is the only 'RctvtSy Churches of Armagky ^, ^<^,
OIK' of the biographers who does * Reiiquue.* In Irish, Relec. Sec
not suppress this : he says, * Tunc Dr. Petrie's account of the Relec na
jubente S. Patricio ablati sunt capilli righy or Cemetery of the Kings at
capitis ejus, id est, norma magica, Cruachan. RounJToiverSf p, 10^-7,

456 Tbeir voluntary Death [cbaf. m.

custom of the pagan Scots, in the form of the
tomb erected over the remains of the royal virgins.
It speaks of the Druidical tonsure, v\rithout any
allusion to the existence of a similar custom
amongst Christians. The articles of the Creed
vs^hich it recites are those alone which are to be
found in symbols of the very highest antiquity.^
But the most singular part of the foregoing story
is its conclusion, in which the virgins, after their
baptism, are represented as having consented to
undergo a voluntary death, in order that they
might see the face of Christ. Patrick is repre-
sented as approving of their design, and, indeed,
as having suggested it. He administered to them
the holy Eucharist, as their viaticum ; and then,
we are told, * they slept in death,' but by
what means death w^as procured we are not
informed.
containino A Icamcd writcr^ has appealed to this transac-
docuine. tiou to show that the early Irish Church — ^not
perhaps St. Patrick himself, but the ' order * of

' Antiquity, O'Flaherty infers Lanigan^s note (L 117), aldiougk

(see O^g, p. 100), from the ques- infected with some of the fictioiis of

tions put to St. Patrick by the VaUancey, contains, on the whole, a

Icing's daughters, that the deities correct view of this subject. See

of the Pagan Irish were topicaly above, |>. 127, z^.
genii or aerial beings, supposed to ■ Writer, See a paper believed to

inhabit the mountains, plains, rivers, be by my late laniented ftiend the

lakes, and fountains j and we know Hon. A. Herbert, * On the Peculiari-

that the visible objects of their wor- tics of Culdeism,* in the BrititA Mm^

ship, besides the heavenly bodies, gazine, vol. zxvi. p. 8. This author

were not idols properly so called, knew the Book of Annagh only from

but pillar-stones, remarkable hills, Sir Wm. Betham^s hukj edition of

wells,and other natural objects. The it. He makes a great deal of the

Irish had no knowledge of the Dii phrase ' Eucharistia donnientium in

gentium^ Saturn, Jupiter, Apollo, morte,* which is one of Sir William's

Mars, Sec, or of the female deities, innumerable blunders, and does not

Juno, Venus, Minerva, &c., under occur in the original.
any Celtic names or designations.

CHAP. III.] not a taking the Veil. 457

ecclesiastics that followed him — had esoteric as well
as exoteric doctrines, and that one of their secret
doctrines was the efficacy of human sacrifices ; the
certainty of salvation to those who submitted to
a voluntary death. In the present case, however,
there is no attempt at secrecy or concealment.
The story is told in the plainest and most un-
equivocal terms. It is repeated by the later
biographers, who do not seem to be conscious of
any reason for disguise. Nor can the difficulty
be removed by the suggestion of Dr. Lanigan,
that the death of the royal virgins, immediately
after receiving the holy Eucharist, was not their
natural, but their spiritual death ; no more being
intended than that they had taken the veil, and so
had become dead to the world.* But they are not
said to have taken the veil, and we are expressly
told that they were laid out and waked ; that
lamentation was made for them ; that they were
buried ; a tomb of a particular form erected over
their remains, and a church built at their tomb.
The original author certainly intended to say that
their death was a real and literal death.

Neither is there in this story the smallest Nodisguise
attempt at disguise.^ There is no appearance of *** *"°'^'

* World. Lanigan, i. p. 141. put upon their heads,' but this was

* The mistake originated,' he says, evidently the white garment of bap-

* in their having received the veil, as tism worn by neophytes in the
it is mentioned they did.' But al- antient church, for eight days after
though the Tripartite Life (ii. 44) baptism. Selvaggii Antiqq. 1. iii. 5,
says this, the reader will observe § 2 (torn. v. p. 74). The custom is
that there is not a word of their alluded to by Patrick himself as hav-
having received the veil, in the ori- ing been practised by him. Sec p.
glnal narrative. We are told, in- 352, /»/ra.

deed, that after their baptism, *a ' Disguise. The only one of the

white gannent, Candida vcstis, was biographers who attempts to soften

45^ Instances of Legends [chap. ui.

its being regarded as containing a secret doctrine,
which was to be revealed to the initiated only.
The writer seems quite unconscious that there
was anything in the legend to be ashamed of.
The daughters of King Laoghaire, having cm-
braced the Christian faith, desired to behold the
face of their Saviour. Being informed that so
long as they were in the flesh this could not be,
they earnestly desired to depart and to be with
Christ ; and accordingly, by a special miracle, or
grace of God, they were removed into the imme-
diate presence of the Lord, after having received
the holy Eucharist of His Body and His Blood.
This is the story. And there are abundant in-
stances of similar legends, to which the explana-
tion of a figurative death is inapplicable.
Many We havc already had occasion to notice the

similar , •' , ,

legends. account given of the virgin who preferred death,
as the spouse of Christ, rather than become the
earthly spouse of St. Enna^, then a worldly and
ungodly chieftain. We have quoted also the
legend of St. Oran^ of Hi, who devoted himself
to a voluntary death for the good of his brethren.
In neither of these examples, however, is there
any mention of the Eucharist. The following

down the objectionable part of the gins however desired agiin to die»

story, is the author of the Fourth rather than endure the miseries of

Life, who makes St. Patrick say, this life : and so they died anin.

* Nisi mortem pauluium gustaveri- Cap, 57, Tr. Th, p. 4a. ThcTri-

tis, et sacrosancta mysteria acci- partite insinuates an apology for

piatis, faciem Christi videre non Patrick^s recommending their death,

critis dignx/ He then gives the ' Vir sanctus dhfhwrmm cmucims Je-
same account of their death as the

other Lives, but adds that St. Patrick
raided them from the dead ; the vir-

cretorum." ii. c. 45, lb. p. 136.
* St. Etma, See above, p. ia<.
» St, Oram, IHd,

CHAP. III.] inculcating voluntary Death. 459

anecdote occurs in the life of St. Patrick, and
may be cited as a case more in point : — Dichu of
Saul, the first convert made by St. Patrick's
preaching in Dal-aradia, had a brother named
Ross, or Rus, the son of the same father, Trichim.
This man was of an advanced age, but entirely story of
devoted to vsrorldly things. Notwithstanding the Trichim.
example of his brother Dichu, he vehemently
resisted St. Patrick. The saint reasoned with
him on the folly of trusting to this world only,
when all his senses had failed, and his limbs were
tottering to the grave. Patrick promised, if he
would believe, to restore him to youth. This
argument prevailed. Ross consented willingly;
and, on Patrick's prayer, became forthwith a strong
and handsome young man. His repentance,
however, was sincere, and his faith exemplary.
Patrick seeing this, and fearing for him, as Joce-
linc tells us, the danger of his again encountering
the temptations of the world, proposed to him
this alternative : — * The choice is given thee,' he
said, ' either to live again for a long time in this
life, or now to go to heaven.' Ross answered, * I
choose now to depart to eternal life.' Then
straightway^, having received the Sacrifice, he
departed unto the Lord.

^ Straight-way. This story is and Connor y ^. '^$, Mart, of Done-
told by two of the Lives only : the gal^ at April 7. Many similar
Vita tertia,c2Lp. 33, and Joceline,who anecdotes may be found in the Lives
amplifies a little, cap. 34, 35. Ross of the Second Order of Saints. It
Mac Trichim is commemorated at must suffice here to quote some in-
Down, or Dundalethglaiss. He is stances from the life of one of them,
>aid to have been at a place called St. Brendan, the navigator, who
Brittan, now Bright, in the county died A.D. 576 or 577. On one
of Down, when Patrick met him. occasion, he and his companions
/7/. Trip. i. 52. See Reeves, Do^vn found a mermaid lying dead from a

460

Moral Instruction

[cHAF. nr.

We are not concerned with the miraculous
embellishments of these legends ; nor indeed with
the question whether or not the stories themselves

severe wound. The saint restored
her to life, baptised her, and then
asked her who she was. ' I am of
the inhabitants of the sea/ said she,

* i.e. of the people who implore and
pray for the resurrection.' Brendan
asked her what was her wish, whe-
ther she would go to heaven at once,
or return to her fatherland. The
girl answered, in a language which
none but Brendan understood, and
said, * To heaven,' said she, * for I
hear the voices of the angels praising
the Almighty Lord.' After the
girl had received the Body of Christ
and His Blood, she died without
anxiety.

Again, Brendan had amongst his
crew some carpenters, a smith, and a
Crossan, or Cross-bearer. (See Irish
Nennius, p. 181, ».) They arrived
at a high and beautiful island, the
shores of which were covered with

* sea cats.' St. Brendan informed his
followers that the furious animals
were come to devour them. He then
said to the Cross-bearer, * Arise, and
take the Body of Christ and His
Blood, and go then to eternal life, for
I hear the choir of the angels calling
thee to them.' He liked this, and
said, ' O Lord, what good have I dune,
that I am to be brought at once
to heaven ! ' Now, after the Crossan
had taken the Body of Christ and
His Blood, he leaped out at once
into the sea with great joy, so that
the sea cats devoured him, all except
a small portion of his bones, which
were buried by his companions, < and
his name is written in the Martyr-
ology, for he was a famous martyr.'
[His martyrdom appears to have con-
sisted in his having devoted himself
to death to save his companions.]

The smith was then seized with a
sudden disease, and was at the point
of death. Brendan said to him,

* What wonder, go to the heavenly
kingdom, as thou art in search of

a country, or if thou desirest to
be in thb world loneer, I will pray
to God for thee and thou shalt re-
cover health.' The tmith answer-
ed, < I hear the voice of the Lord
calling me.' And after taking the
Body of Christ and His Blood, he
went to heaven.

They still sailed westward, and
discovered a small but beautiful
island, with much excellent fish left
behind by the tide in the inlets and
bays. As they sailed round the
island they saw a stone church upon
it, and an old man praying there,
who warned them to fly, as there
was a huge sea cat on the island as
large as an ox, which would destroy
them. They took to their ship, and
the sea cat swam after them. Bren-
dan prayed, when another sea monster
rose up, and foueht with the cat.
Both were drowned, and never heard
of afterwards. Brendan and his peo-
ple returned to the island. The old
man received them with joy. 'I
am one of the men of Erinn,' said
he, * and we set out twelve men of
us, on our pilgrrimage, and brought
that monster sea cat with us, when
he was a young kitten, and we were
very fond of him $ he afterwards
grew to a great size, but never did
us any harm ; and eleven of my
companions have died, and I am here
waitmg for thee to give me the Body
of Christ, and afterwards to so to
heaven.' The old man then pointed
out to them the land of which they
were in search, i.e. the Land of Pro-
mise ; and havine received the Body
of Christ and His Blood, he went
to heaven ; and he was buried in
that place along with his brethren,
with great honour and veneration,
with psalms and hymns, in the Name
of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost.

The foregoing tales are translated
from an Irish Life of St. Bicndan.

CHAP. III.] intended by such Legends. 461

had any foundation in fact. The teaching they
represent may have been the teaching of St.
Patrick, although we cannot absolutely infer that
it was so. The legendary biographies, in which
wc find such tales, were all composed at a much
later time, and in all probability received much
colouring from the opinions and superstitions of
their authors. It is important, however, to
observ e, that not even in the latest of these com-
positions was any attempt made to disguise the
facts, or to treat the voluntary death which the
legends seem to recommend as an occult doc-
trine.

Nothing can be more unfair than to repre- Human
sent that doctrine as equivalent to the doc- n^"ta^ght
trine of human sacrifice^ said to have been held i^en^j
by some heretical sects. The Irish stories had
for their object no more than to set forth the
superior glories of a future life ; the blessedness
of being delivered from the burden of the flesh,
and the miseries of this sinful world ; that
' to depart and to be with Christ is far better.'
This object was, no doubt, clumsily effected by
superstitious and incredible tales ; but such tales
fitted the taste, and were eagerly, perhaps profit-
ably, received by the credulity of the age for
whose edification they were invented. In some
of them death is represented as a miraculous

^ Sacrifice. Nevertheless it is upon xxvi. p. 7. We may hereafter have

the strength of these stories that the an opportunity of expUining what

learned author we have already re- the Culdees really were, and how

t'errcd to says, * The most remark- strangely mistaken this writer was

able Incident to Culdeism is the idea respecting them.
o\' luiman sacrifice.' Brit. Magaz,

462 Not a Recommendation [cHAP.m.

gift, sent from above in answer to the prayer or to
the earnest desire of the saint. In other cases,
from the stupidity or ignorance of the legend-
maker, the saint is represented as having com-
mitted something like suicide ; devoting himself
to death for the good of others, and by his own
act voluntarily encountering death. But the idea
of human sacrifice does not, even in this case, enter
into the story. The victim devotes himself to
save his brethren from some great and imminent
peril. St. Oran of Hi may have been influenced
by the superstitious opinion that until a Christian
interment took place in that island, the power of
the demons^ who were its former possessors,
could not be entirely overcome. The Crossat^
among the followers of St. Brendan may have
been persuaded that the ^ wild cats' of the island,
satisfied with one victim, would leave his master
and companions unmolested. But these stories,
superstitious as they are, and tinged perhaps with
a Paganism not yet extinct, do not inculcate the
merit or benefit of human sacrifice,
nor Still less do they resemble the Endura^, or

religioas

* Demons. Pennant mentions a ibid.), * We have a memorable in-

tradition current among the peasan- stance of it [the doctrine of human

try, that Oran's tomb was opened; sacrifice] in the Emdmra of Vzuliciuk

that he was found alive, and uttered Manichees of Langucdoc. By that

the most feariul blasphemies, so that rule, the candidates for Albieensian

it became necessary to cover him up salvation, when dangerously iU, were

again. This story seems to implv required to accelerate their death by

that not only his body, but his soul, abstaining from (bod, and were even

became the prey of the demons. But sanctioned in still further accelerating

there is no antient authority for it. it by bleeding.'* Let the reader judge

It is a fable of modern demonology. whether there is anything of this

See Irish Ncnnius, p. xxiv. xxv. kind so much as hinted at in the

'^ Crossan, See note, p. 460. Irish legends. For the Emdwra of

' Endura. See Du Cange, in the Albigenses, see Maitland, fmiit

njoce, Mr. Herbert says {Erit, Mag. and Documimts^ p. 235, $q.

suicide.

CHAP. III.] of religious Suicide. 463

religious suicide of the Albigensian heretics, to
which a learned writer has compared them.
There suicide, properly so called, by a slow and
painful death, was the essential idea. A voluntary
abstaining from all food, accompanied sometimes
by bleeding, and hot baths to aid the effects of
the bleeding. In this lingering and gradual
extinction of life consisted apparently the merit of
the sacrifice ; whereas the prominent idea in the
Irish stories was a death, as speedy as possible
after having received the holy Viaticum, not with
any notion of a human sacrifice, but lest sin
should be committed to neutralize the purifying
effects of the blessed Sacrament, and hinder the
admission of the believer into the immediate
presence of Christ.

We undoubtedly recognise also in these legends Legend ot

, . t ^ r 1 ° . St Acdh

a desire to recommend and enforce the necessity Mac Brie
of receiving the holy Eucharist as a viaticum
before death. Some of the stories have this alone
for their object, as in the case of the Mermaid
resuscitated by St. Brendan.^ A similar anecdote
is told of St. Aedh Mac Bric^: —

' A rich friend, a native of Munster, and a great benefactor to
the Church, had sent for St. Aedh in his last illness, but died
before Aedh could reach him. St. Aedh sent his deacon
{mints tr urn suum) with all speed, commanding him to say in the
ciir of the dead man, " Shall I go to thee, or wilt thou come to
me ? " Immediately the dead man arose, and crossing himself,

^ St. Brendan. See above, p. 460, ». air, now Killarc, in Wcstmeath,
2 Atdh Mac Brie. He was a de- and died a.d. 588. Colgan gives
scendant of Fiacc, son of Niall of the his Life at 28 Feb., but he is corn-
Nine Hostages. See Table HI. p. memorated in the Mart, of Donegal
252, jupra. He was Bishop at Gill- at 10 Nov.

464

St. Patricias Charioteer.

[crap.

went to St. Aedh, who said to him, '' Wilt thou continue in
this life, or go now to heaven ? " He preferred the latter alter-
native : received the Communion of the Lord from the hand
of Aedh, and then slept in peace/ ^

Story of
Gran the
charioteer.

This story can have had no other object than to
inculcate the necessity of receiving the holy
Viaticum before death.

The story of Odhran, or Oran, St. Patrick's
charioteer^, can scarcely be said to belong to thb
class of legends. The only moral it inculcates is
the devotion of a faithful servant to his master.
St. Patrick had overturned the great pillar stone,
vsrorshipped by the Irish, in the plain of Magh
Sleacht^ co. of Cavan. Berraidhe^ a chieftain of

* Inpeace, Abridged from Colgan,
Actt, SS. p. 419, c. 10. Some similar
stories may be briefly noticed here.
Eochaidh, son of Crimthann Leith,
fifth in descent from Colla-da-Crioch,
died in infidelity, but requested that
Patrick should be sent for before his
body was interred ; Patrick came
and raised him from the dead. Eoch-
aidh declared to the people what he
had seen of the pains of the damned
and the blessedness of the righteous.
The choice was given him to live
and reign for 1 5 years more on earth,
or at once to go to heaven. Eochaidh
declared that he regarded all the de-
lights of the work! as naught, and
as smoke that soon passes away,
when compared with the joys of
eternity. He was therefore baptised,
and immediately * rested in the Lord.'
f7/. Trip. iii. c. 8. Again, Eoghan,
grandson of Muredach Meith, son
of Imchad, son of Colla-da-crioch,
requested St. Patrick to resuscitate
his grandfather, who had died in
Paganism some years before. The
saint consented, Muredach was re-
stored to life, instructed in the mys-
teries of the faith, baptised, and then

'being afirain delivered from die
burden of the flesh, dismissed to
eternal life.* IhU, c. 11. Thiidly,
Mumessa, or Munessa, daughter of
a British kin^, although not jtt
baptised, was mspired with an m-
tense desire of seeing God; her
parents brought her to St. Patrick,
she was instructed, and baptised, and
forthwith died. Fit.^ta^^c. 7S. Joce-
lin (c. 159) adds, that she had re-
ceived the Viaticum immediately after
her baptism.

* Charioteer. See 0'Donovan*t
Four Masters^ a.D. 448, p. 13!.
Odhran, or Oran, was a common
name in IreUnd ; there is therefore
no ground to represent the storr of
St. Oran of Hi as an imitation of thb
legend. See Brii. hU^eodme^ zxri.
p. II.

' Magh Sleacht. See abore, p.
127.

^ BerraiJhe, He was descended
from Ros Failghe(Ros of the rings),
eldest son of Cathair Mbr, King
of Ireland, a.D. 174. From this
Ros Failghe, the Ui Failghe, or
Oflaly, took their name. Set 0*Fla-
ticrty, Ogjfg, p. 310. Colgan, Jeit.

CHAP. III.] Patrick revisits Ulster, Meatb, &c. 465

the Ui Failghe, or OfFaly, in Leinster, resolved to
take vengeance for this deed, by putting Patrick to
death. His resolution came to the ears of Oran,
who soon after, when they were to pass near the
fortress of this chieftain, pretended fatigue, and
easily induced Patrick to resign his place in the
chariot/ The stratagem succeeded. Berraidhe
cast his javelin at Oran, supposing him to be St.
Patrick, and Oran died, with the satisfaction of
having saved his master's life by the sacrifice of
his own.

Let us resume the narrative of St. Patrick's sl Patrick
missionary progress. After his labours in Con- uuter,
naught, where he is said to have spent seven
years', he is represented to have revisited
Ulster. There he erected a great number of
churches, in which he left priests and bishops in
the districts of Tirconnell (now the county of
Donegal), Dalrieda, and Dalaradia. He then
visited Meath ; and entering Leinster, is said Mcath,
to have baptised at Naas, at that time the Naas,
residence of the Leinster kings, Illann and
Aillill, sons of Dunlaing, king of Leinster,
who both afterwards succeeded to the throne*
of their father. In the county of Wicklow, he wickiow.
sought hospitality from Driuccriu, then chief-
tain of the Hy Garchon, who was married to a

SS. p. 370. For an account of the * Seven years, Vit. Trip. ii. io8.

district originally belonging to this Tirechan, Book of Armagi, fol. 15,

tribe, see O'Donowdin, Book of RigAtSj a, b.

p. 216, «. • Throne, The Four Masters telb

^Chariot. The chariot it seems usthat Illann died in 5069 and Aillill

was capable of holding but one in 526.
person.

H H

466 Consecration of Fiacc. [chaf.iu.

daughter of king Laoghaire. Knowing his father-
in-law's hostility to Patrick, Driuccriu refiised
him the usual courtesy^ due to a traveller ; but
Patrick was compensated by the cordial reception
he received from Cillin, or Killin, a chieftain of
another branch of the same family, whose infant
son^ Marcan was blessed by the saint, and his
future eminence foretold.
Visits Patrick next visited Magh Life, the plain from

^^ ^' which the river LifFey takes its name^ where he
founded some churches ; and proceeding into the
district called larthar Life, or western LifFey, he
entered the territory of the tribe called Laeghis,
or Lcix^, now the Queen's County,
consccra- Thcrc, it is Said, he again met with Dubhtach
FU^c!^ Maccu Lugil, or Lughair, the great bard or poet,
whom he had converted^ to Christianity some
years before, at the court of king Laoghaire;
and on this occasion, Dubhtach's disciple Fiacc
was made bishop of Sletty, with jurisdiction (as
we are told) over all Leinster.

1 Courtesy. * Postulanti denegavit legends are older than the eleventh

charitatis officia.* 7rip. iii. 17. century, when Dublin came to be an

This is an incidental proof that ecclesiastical town. JocelinCy who

Laoghaire was not believed to have wrote in the 11th century, tells us

been sincere in his profession of (c. 71) that St. Patrick came to

Christianity. Dublin, * a noble city :* but he be-

* Infant son. * Adhuc lactans in- trays the anachronism by adding
ter ulnas ministrantis tunc ancillae.* that it was then inhabited by the
Trip. ibid. See above. Table V. No. Northmen, who were unknown in
87* P- »53« Ireland before the year 795. He

' Name. See above, Introd. p. forgot also that a little before (c. 69)

1 1 , not. 2. he had represented St. Patrick as

* Leix. For the history and boun- predicting the future eminence of
daries of this tribe, see O^Donovan, Dublin in these words, * Pagus iste.
Book of Rights, p. 216, n. In this nunc exiguus, eximius erit.*
account of the acts of St. Patrick in * Converted. See above, p. 4.24.
Leinster, no mention is made of Fit. Trip. iii. 11. Tr, TA, p. 151.
Dublin. This is a proof that these

CHAP. III.] Patrick visits Ossory and Munster. ^6y

From Leinster, as the author of the Tripar- Bicsangon
titc Life informs us, Patrick entered Ossory, "°'^'
and blessed^ the whole district, predicting that
from it should proceed many eminent men, both
in the ecclesiastical and secular life, and that the
country should never be subjected to the yoke of
strangers so long as the tribes of Ossory continued
in obedience to him and to his successors. This
seems to show that, in the times of this author,
the jurisdiction of Armagh was not universally
acknowledged ; and we know that the right of
visitation in Ossory was claimed by the successors
of Columbkille in the seventh century.^

We next^ find Patrick in Munster; and as he Patrick in
had spent seven years in Connaught, so we are ^""^'^'"
told he spent seven years also in Munster. He
went at once to Cashel, the seat of the kings.
As he approached, the idols all fell before him,
like Dagon before the Ark. The king of Mun-
ster, Aengus, son of Natfraich, came out to meet
him, and conducted him into the palace with the
highest reverence and honour. Aengus^ was at

* Blessed. * Totam postea terram journ of St. Patrick in Munster,

et gentem Ossoriorum bcnedixit, after the foundation of Armagh.

prsedicens quod ex ea tarn in Christi, See his Index Chron. a.D. 445, 448,

quani in seculi militia, multi clan 449. He dates the foundation of

prodlturi essent duces j et quod ex- Clogher two years before that of

teronini jugo vel potentia non essent Armagh, i.e. 443, or fifty years bc-

opprimendi, quamdiu in suo, suo- fore St. Patrick's death j nowevcr,

rumque successorum obsequi is essent Joceline (c.143), as well as the Tri-

permansuri.' Vit. Trip. iii. 27. partite (iii. c. 3), tell us that at the

2 Century. See Reeves, Adamn, foundation of Clogher, Patrick was
p . 3 9 , note d. so feeble with age, * senio confectum,*

3 Next. The exact chronological that he used to be carried on the
order oi'these events is veryunsettled. shoulders of his disciple St. Mac-
UsshtT places the consecration of carthenn.

Fiacc, the baptism of the sons of * Aengus, King Aengus was

Dunlaing, and the seven years* so- killed A.D. 489, by lUann, son of

H H 2

468 Baptism of King Aengus. Cchap. m.

once baptised, but a singular accident took place
at the ceremony. Patrick, without perceiving it,
allowed the lower end of his crosier, -which was
sharp and pointed, to pierce the king's foot.
Aengus, imagining that this was a necessary part
of the baptismal ceremony, endured the torture
without allowing himself to utter the slightest
expression of pain. It was not until the baptism
was over that the fact was discovered.

All this bears evident marks of fiction. No
mention of Cashel, or of Patrick's journey to
Munster, is to be found in the Book of Armagh.
Emly, not Cashel, was at first proposed as the
archiepiscopal see of Munster ^ nor is there any
notice of Cashel in the Irish annals, as a place of
ecclesiastical importance, until the middle of the
ninth, or beginning of the tenth century. The
* Irish Life'*^ of St. Patrick, supposed to be the
original of Colgan's * Tripartite,' or 'Vita Sep-
tima,' betrays the origin of the Munster legend,
when it tells us that Patrick on this occasion had
enacted, —

^ And no man shall be king of Cashel until the comarb [or
successor] of Patrick has confirmed him, and consecrated him to
his office.' •

Foundation Thc fouudatiou of Armagh is the next event

of Armagh.

Dunlain?, king of North Leinster, ' Iruk lifi. Still unpublished^ MS.

at the battle of Cell-Osnada, or Bodleian. Rawlinson, 505. There

Cenn Losnado, now Keliistown, is another copy among the Egerton

county of Carlow. See Four Mas- MSS.,No. 93, Brit. Museum.

tersy in anno, and O'Donovan's note. ' Office. * Ni ri Caisel coro nordne

Illann had not long before been bap- comarba Patrice, afi;us cotarda gnd

tised by St. Patrick. See p. 465. fair.* This passage is not to be found

* Munster. Introd. sect. 85, 86, in Colgan*s Latin venion. Fit. Trip,

p. 214, sq. iii. c. 30, p. 155.

CHAP. III.] Foundation of Armagh.

469

which can be regarded as historical in the life of
St. Patrick ; and here again we are met by the
chronological difficulties created by the story of
his Roman mission. The Annals of Ulster give the
date A.D. 444 [=445], with the parallel date 1 194,
or according to another reading i igjy from the
foundation of Rome.^ This record, thus doubly
dated, occurs in these annals in connection with
two other notices, which seem to show that
Armagh was founded in the earlier part of St.
Patrick's career, when the success of his mission
was ascertained, and his fame established. These
notices are as follows: —

' A.D. 441. Patrick the bishop is approved [probatus est) m
the Catholic faith.'

* Historical. There may perhaps
be one or two exceptions. The Tri-
partite Life (iii. c. 66, TV. 7A, p.
162) mentions a hill called Ard-
Patrick at the east of the town of
Louth, where St. Patrick was minded
at first to settle. But an angel
brought him * an epistle,' in which
he found a * commonitorium ' or com-
mandment of God, to go to Armagh.
He left behind him at Ard-Patrick
his disciple Mochta, a Briton, who
afterwards built the celebrated church
and monastery of Lughmagh, now
Louth. See above, p. 29, jy. The
Lives also tell us (see p. 467 ».)
that the church of Clogher was
founded before Armagh, and at a
time when St. Patrick had become
enfeebled by age j if so the founda-
tion of Clogher, as well as of Ar-
magh, must be assigned to a much
later date than Ussher has chosen.
Clogher was a place of antient idola-
try, celebrated tor a pillar-stone which
had been an object of worship. (Sec
above, p. 129.) St. Aedh MacCar-
thenn was left there as bishop, and
to him Patrick gave the copy of the

Gospels, some fragments of which still
remain, preserved in the shrine called
Domnacn-airgidyXiOYi in the Museum
of the Royal Irish Academy. See Fit,
Trip. iii. c. 3, Petrie's Essay, Trans.
R. I. Acad, vol. xviii. 0'Curry*s Lec-
tures, p. 322, sq. The history of St.
MacCarthenn of Clogher will be
found in Colgan, Actt. SS. (24 Mart.)
p. 737. It is difficult to say how far
these transactions can be regarded as
historical. They are not mentioned
in the Book of Armagh.

* Rome. The numeral letters em-
ployed in the MSS. render it difficult
to distinguish uii. from iiii. The
Dublin MS. of these annals seem to
read 1197. Ussher quotes the words
of the Ulster Annals thus i * a.d.
444, Ardmacha fundata est ; ab
urbe condita usque ad banc civita-
tem fundatam 1 1 94 anni sunt,* and
he adds, ' £t quidem a Roma condi
coepta, usque ad annum aerae Chris-
tianae 445 {t\ enim respondet annus
444 in annalibus illis notatus), juxta
Polybii rationes, anni 11 94 revera
effluxerunt.' Antiqq, c. 17. fForks,
vi. p. 414.

470 Date of the Foundation of Armagh, [chap. m.

^ A.D. 443. Patrick the bishop in the zeal of faith {ardore
fidei)^ is flourishing in our Province.* *

Date of the Wc havc hcrc a manifest remnant of the
of Amagh. old chronology of which we have already said
so much. Armagh was founded after Patrick
had been proved in the faith (a.d. 442), and after
his 'flourishing' in Ulster, a.d. 444 (for we must
add one year to the dates in these annals) that
is to say, about a.d. 445. It is evident that the
story of the foundation of Trim, twenty-two, or
according to another reading, twenty-five years
before the foundation of Armagh, is ignored by
this author. That story, although contained
in the Book of Armagh^ is confessedly of later
origin ; meaning, of course, later, not as com-
pared with the annals, but in reference to the
other collections in the Book of Armagh, trans-
cribed in the eighth century. It is therefore,
nevertheless, a legend of some antiquity. The
Book of Armagh must have been known to the
compiler of the Ulster Annals, who was himself a
canon of the cathedral in the fifteenth century;
therefore the suspicion arises that he has deliber-
ately rejected the Trim legend.^

* Pro*vince. Dr. O'Conor reads island these Annals are often called

* in nostra Hibernia ; ' Rerum Hib. Annates Senatemses, Sec O^Dooo-

Scriptt. iv. p. 1. And this may be van (Four Mast), ati4.9S. Harris,

the meaning, but it is more pro- Ware's Writers^ p. 90. O^Cuny's

bable that our author intended the Lectures^ p. 85. On the use of nt

district around Armagh. The An- word Provincia, in older writers, see

nals of Ulster were compiled by Ca- Reeves, Adanuum^ Glossar, im ^pmv,

thai Maguire,anative of Fermanagh, p. 451 ; but from the pen of Magviit

canon of Armagh and Dean of m the 15th century the word oooU

Clogher, who died 1498. They scarcely have meant anything b«t

were written in the island of Senait the district round Arniagb.
MacMaghnusa (now Belle-isle), in ■ Legend. See the Trim legend,

the Upper Lough Erne. From this p. 260, above. The Four Matfrn,

CHAP. 111.] The three CoIIas. 471

The district around Armagh, in the middle of Thecon-
thc fifth century, was occupied by the Oirgialla\ orici.°
tribes descended from Caircll, Murcdach, and
Aedh, the three sons of Eochaidh Doimhlen, who
arc better known by the names of CoUa Uais, or
CoUa the noble; Colla da crioch, or Colla of the
two countries^; and Colla Meann, the illustrious.

These ch ieftains were the nephews^ of Fiacha The three
Sraibhtine, king of Ireland, a.d. 297^ but they
rebelled against their uncle, and slew him at the
battle of Dubhcomar^; after which Colla Uais,
the eldest of the three brothers, usurped the
throne.

He enjoyed the sovereignty for four years, and Destruction
was then expelled by Muredach Tirech, son of ° "**™*'
the late king Fiacha, who compelled him to take
refuge, with his brothers, in Alba, the modern
Scotland. Before the end of a year, however, the
Collas made a treaty with their cousin Muredach,
and came over to his assistance against the king
of Ulster. A decisive battle was fought a.d. ^^z,

assuming 432 as the date of the * Tiw countries. So called from

i'oundation of Trim (according to his connection with Scotland.

the exigencies of the Roman Mis- ' Nepheius. See Genealog. Table

sion), and adding 25, ^ive 457 as IV. d. 2$!^ supra: where the rela-

the date of the foundation of Ar- tionsnip between these tribes and the

magh. great clans of the O'Neill family is

^ Oirgialla. This district is called shown.

by the English, Or/>/ and Uriel. It * Dubhcomar, This is said to have

included the counties of Armagh, been the name of a Druid of King

Louth, Monaghan, and Fermanagh. Fiacha, who was slain in the battle.

The origin ot the name is not evi- Ogyg. p. 359 j TigAernacA, a. D.

dent : for the etymology, or, gold, 322. But the word Comar signifies

and g'tall^ hostage (because their the confluence of two rivers, and Dr.

hostages were fettered with golden O'Donovan conjectures, that Dubh-

« hains), seems palpably fabulous, comar is the antient name of the

0 Donovan, 5oo/f q/'/J/^g^^//, p. 140, confluence of the river Dubh, or

141,/?. Topogr. Poems, ^.x\\.{ioi), Blackwatcr, and the Boyne. Four

( I o+). Masters, 'A.D. 322, n.

472 Legend of the Donation [chap. m.

in the barony of Farney, county of Monaghan,
in which the king of Ulster was slain. His royal
residence Emania, now Navan Fort, near Armagh,
was taken and utterly destroyed. Colla Nleann,
one of the victorious chieftains, perished in the
battle ; and the country of the vanquished was
divided between the two surviving brothers. The
original owners were forced to content themselves
with a corner of their former territory.^ At the
times of which we speak, some tribes, the de-
scendants of Colla da Crioch, appear to have been
settled in the region of Oirghialla^, and especially
in the district round Emania and Armagh.
Donation It was from a chieftain of this race, named

to st™*^ Daire, that St. Patrick is said to have obtained
Patncic ^^ g^^^ ^£ Arjniagi^^ together with the rights of

chieftainship, which descended to his successors,

and contributed to the subsequent ecclesiastical

Legend as importaucc of the place. The legend is told

told in the .^ . r-ri ^r • ^ ^? «

Book of m the antient L/ite, by Muirchu Maccu-mach-
"""^^^ ' theni, preserved in the Book of Armagh.^ The
following is a literal translation of the story : —

' There was a certain rich and honourable man in the regions
of the Orientals*, whose name was Daire. Him St. Patrick

* Territory. The vanquished tribes at any given time the exact position

were of the clanna Rudhraiehe, or of tnese tribes, their possessions

descendants of Rury Mor, of the race varied so much, owing to their in-

of Hir, son of Milesius. See p. 148. temal dissensions.

After the destruction of Emania, • Armaeh, FoL 6, b. a. See the

they retired to the district NW. of original of this passage in Reeres^s

the Righe or Ncwry river, and Loch Churches tf Armagh^ p. 4.5.

Ncagh. Four Masters y a.d. 331. * Orientals. *In regionibus ori-

O'DoTiowTLTiyBookofRightSyi^.'^Syn.y entalium.* This district wsw Oir-

p. 156, n. Reeves, Doixfi and Con- thear, or Orior, the eastern put of

nor^ Afp. II. p. 352. Oirghialla, from Oirthear or Atr--

^ Otrghialla. It Is difficult to fix thear^ eastern. Reeves, IbiA, p. 46.

CHAP. III.] of Armagh J by Daire. 473

desired to give unto him a place for the exercise of religion
{ad exercendam religionem). And the rich man said unto the
saint, '^ What place askest thou ? " " I ask," said the saint,
" that thou give me that height of land which is called Dorsum
Salicis^ and there I will build a place.'* But he would not give
that high land to the saint j he gave him however another place in
lower land, where now is Ferta martyrum^ near Ardd-Macha.
And there St. Patrick dwelt with his followers {cum suis).

' Now after some time the knight * of Daire came, leading
his horse Miraculum^ to feed in the grassy place of the Chris-
tians ; and such letting-loose of the horse into his place offended
Patrick ; and he said, " Daire has acted foolishly in sending
brute animals to disturb the small holy place' which he gave to
God." But the knight heeded not, like as a deaf man 5 and as a
dumb man that openeth not his mouth, spake nothing ; but
leaving his horse there for that night he went his way.

' On the next day however, in the morning, the knight coming
to see his horse, found him already dead ; and returning home
sad, he said to his master, " Lo, that Christian hath slain thy
horse, for the disturbing of his place hath offended him." And
Daire said, " He also shall be slain ; go now and kill him."
But as they were going forth, sooner than it can be told death
fell upon Daire (dictu citius mors inruit super Daire). Then his
wife said, " This is because of the Christian ; let some one go
quickly and let his blessings be brought unto us and thou shalt
recover : and let them who went forth to kill him be stopped
and recalled."

' So two men went forth to the Christian, and concealing what
had happened, said unto him, ''Lo, Daire is sick: let something be
carried unto him from thee, if peradventure he may be healed."
But St. Patrick, knowing the things that had happened, said,
" Yea." And he blessed water, and gave it unto them, saying,
'' Go, sprinkle your horse with this water, and take him with
you." And they did so, and the horse revived, and they took

^ Knight. * Eques,' i.e. perhaps drous horse, is doubtful. The Lives

his equerry, horseman, or groom. understand it in the latter sense.
The MS. has * eques Doiri Dairi,' ^ Small holy place, * Parvum ' is in

but the repetition of the name is the margin of the MS. : but whether

probably a mistake. it is intended as an addition to be in-

^ Miraculum. Whether this was serted in the text, or as a substitute for

the name of the horse, or whether it * sanctum,' is uncertain. The former

should be rendered a fine or won- view is adopted in the translation.

474 ^^^ Donation of Armagh. [chaf.ul

him with them. And Daire was healed, when sprinkled with
the holy water.

' Then Daire came after these things to honour St. Patrick,
bringing with him a wonderful brazen cauldron, from beyond seas,
[eneum mirabilem transmartnum) which held three firkins. And
Daire said unto the saint, '' Lo, this cauldron is thine." And St
Patrick said, " Gratxacham.** ^ Then Daire returned to his own
home and said, ^^ The man is a fool, for he said nothing good for a
wonderful cauldron of three firkins, except Gratzacham.** Then
Daire added and said to his servants, '^ Go. and bring us back our
cauldron." They went and said unto Patrick, '' We must take
away the cauldron.'* Nevertheless this time also Saint Patrick
said, " Gratzacharrij take it." So they took it Then Daire
asked his people, saying, '^ What said the Christian when ye
took away the cauldron ? " But they answered, ** He said
Gratzacham again." Daire answered and said, '^ Gratzacham
when I give, Gratzacham when I take away. His saying b
so good that with those Gratzachams his cauldron shall be
brought back to him." And Daire himself went this time and
brought back the cauldron to Patrick, saying to him, ** TTiy
cauldron shall remain with thee \ for thou art a steady and
imperturbable man ; moreover also that portion of land which
thou didst desire before, I now give thee as fiilly as I have it,
and dwell thou there." And this is the city which is now named
Ardd-machx. And St. Patrick and Daire both went forth,
to view the wonderful and well-pleasing gift of the oblation ;
and they went up to that height of land, and they found there
a roe, with her little fewn, which was lying in the place where
the altar of the Northern Church in Ardd-machas now is ; and
the companions of Patrick wished to catch the fawn and kiD it.
But the saint would not, nor did he permit it : nay, he himself
took up the fawn, carrying it on his shoulders, and the roe, like
a very pet lamb, followed him, until he had laid down the fawn
in another field, situated at the north side of Ardd-machac, where
to this day, as the learned say, some signs of the miracle {signa
quadam virtutis) still remain.'

Authcnti- This legend, notwithstanding some admixture
kgcnl^*'*' of fable, bears internal evidence of authenticity.

* Gratxacham, A corruption of Reeves, Ahc, CkMrckes tf drmtfgk^
the Latin * Gratias ago ' or * agam.* p. 50.

CHAP, iii.j The Ardd-Macba. 475

It was certainly written before the idea had
arisen of making Armagh an archiepiscopal or
primatial see, with metropolitical jurisdiction over
all Ireland. Patrick is represented as asking
from the chieftain Daire a place for the exercise
or practice of religion only. Nothing is said of
an episcopal see or diocese, much less of a
primacy. All that was demanded was a place
or site for such buildings as might suffice for
the residence of a religious society. The reli-
gious life, and the worship of God, were all that
St. Patrick had in view.

The chieftain refused to give the higher ground The high
called Druim Sailech, Dorsum SaliciSy * the Ridge refund,
or Hill of the Sallow,' or Willow Tree. The
elevated ground, in which this Dorsum stands,
was called Ardd-Macbe, rendered Altitudo
Machse, and Altimachae^ in the Book of Armagh.
The word signifies height, or high ground of
Macha. Whether Macba was a territorial name,
or, as is generally supposed, the name of an
anticnt queen, we need not stop to discuss.
Daire probably doubted the prudence of com-
mitting to a party of strangers a position of such
military importance, on which he probably had
his own abode ; he therefore proposed to give a
site for the religious establishment of the new

^ Altimacha. Sometimes also called word Ardmagh to signify * High

simply Macha j which gives some plain.* He was misled by the An-

c(nintenance to the opinion that glicized spelling, and supposed the

Macha was the name ot the district. second syllable to be the Celtic word

For the story of (^ueen Macha, see Maghy a plain. If that had been

Keatingy a.m. 3559 (p. 245, O'Ma- so, the word would have been Angli-

/jony^s Translation) ; OTlaherty, cized Ardmcy, See Reeves, Churches

Og)g. p. 258. Ussher supposed the of Armagh, p. 41.

476 The Ferta Martyrum. [chaf. uu

ThcFcrtae comcrs Oil lowcr giound. The place was called

artyrum. .^ ^^^ authoi's time Ferta Matty fum, ' the graves

of relics ' ; but had probably the name of Ferta^

* graves/ before its consecration to Christianity.
The Irish Tripartite Life puts into Daire's mouth
this answer to Patrick's request for the high
ground — * I will not give that to thee, but I will
give thee a place for thy church {do reclesd) in
the strong rath below where the Da Ferta [the
two graves] are/ We may, therefore, infer that
Da Ferta was the antient name^ of the place.

* The two graves ' were in a rath, or circular
fort, in accordance with the Pagan custom ; and
St. Patrick appears to have kept up the sepulchral
character of the place, for the Tripartite Irish
Life speaks of the church erected by him there
as a Religy or Redes, the term always applied to
a sepulchral church, and of which ' Ferta Mar-
tyrum ' is the Latin equivalent.^

Dimensiona Thc samc authority preserves a curious account
buildings of the nature and dimensions of the buildings
'^''^' erected by St. Patrick in the Fertae, the first
ecclesiastical establishment founded by him at
Armagh. Colgan's Latin version' of the Tri-
partite Life applies this account to the churches

* Antient Name. Dr. Reeves, supposed the word Fert^ to sig-

in his * Ancient Churches \)f Ar- nify mracUs 5 in which error, as

magh/ has abundantly proved this. Reeves shews, he is followed by

The word martair, in Irish, al- Ussher and others.
though evidently the Latin martyr, ' Equivalent. Sec Reeve% Adem-

was used to signify the relics of iv^^y p. 1 S3. G/o/jonr or <v. Reliquijty

any saints, whether martyrs or p. 451. Churches of Armagh^ p. S.
not. See Reeves, Adamnan, p. ^ Latin verjion. Lib. iii. c. 79,

314, not. m. Joceline (c. 161) 7r. T^*., p. 164,

CHAP. III.] The Buildings erected there. ^yy

afterwards built on the high ground; but the
Irish original speaks only of the Fertae : —

' The way in which Patrick made the Ferta^ it says, ' was
this: seven score feet* in the Las^ [or Fort], and seven and
twenty feet in the Tigh mor [or Great House] ; and seventeen
feet in the Cuile [or Kitchen] ; and seven feet in the Aregal
[or Oratory], And it was thus the houses of the Congbail
[the Churches] were built always/

There can be no doubt that this passage is of
great antiquity, and that it relates to the Fertay
not to the churches or religious edifices afterwards
erected. The terms that are employed in describ-
ing the buildings are some of them obsolete, and
would be unintelligible to our best Celtic scholars,
but for the explanations of them preserved in
antient glossaries. The small dimensions also as-
signed to the buildings, and the remark that the
houses of the churches^ were always such, are
striking evidence that the writer must have lived
before the age when larger edifices were required.

The arrangement described consisted of a
^ Less\^ that is to say, an earthen circular fort or

' Feet. The word is Traigy plur. of the authenticity of this tradi-

TraigeJ, a foot, a footprint. See tion. Colgan renders this passagre,

Zeu&s, Gram. Celt. p. 6. * Et hx sacra ades omnes juxta has

* Houses of the churches. In the mensuras sunt postea erectae.* (7r.
original dom na conghaUiy * Domus T^h.y p. 164.) But this does not
eccTesiarum/ The word Congbal is express the real meaning of the Irish :
explained eclais^ * ecclesia/ in an which signifies not that these particu-
antient Glossary (H. 3. 18, p. 514) in lar buildings were afterwards erected
the Library ot Trin. Coll. Dublin. according to the dimensions given, but
The root seems to signify enclosure, that all similar ecclesiastical build-
bringing together,congregatio,^««Xij- ings were constructed on the same
ntn. The etymology suggested by scale — do gres — for ever afterwards.
Dr. Reeves, Adamnan, p. 268, «., ' Less. This word, now written
and Cotton s ybit. p. 79, is certainly Lios, is found in topographical names
untenable. The use of this antient both in Ireland and Scotland, such
Celtic word is remarkable evidence asLismore,Lisnagarvy,Listowel,&c.

478 Conversion of Daire. [cHAP.m.

enclosure, for the protection of the whole settle-
ment: a * Great House' for the residence of the
ecclesiastics: the Cuile (Culina) or Kitchen, which
was probably also the Refectory: and the Aregaly
a word which has greatly puzzled our philologists,
but which is probably the medieval Latin
Oraculum^, used in the sense of an oratory or
place of worship. As one dimension only is
given, these structures were probably circular.

No remains of the buildings at the Ferta
Martyrum are now to be found. In the fifteenth
century, the place had become a nunnery, and
so continued to the period of the Reformation,
when it was suppressed under the name of
Temple-fertagh. Dr. Reeves has recently deter-
mined^ its exact site in the present ^Scotch
Street,' at a spot from which a fine view of the
hill upon which the cathedral now stands can be
obtained.
Conversion After somc timc the holy living, the patience,
chieftain devotion and piety of St. Patrick and his com-
Niaihin/ panions, made an impression upon the chieftain
Daire. We may reject, if we please, the marvel-
lous part of the story; but the story itself,
notwithstanding the incredible particulars intro-
duced into it, may nevertheless have had some

It signifies an earthen fort or ram- Cange in 'vocf. Colgan tramiatrs

part, generally surrounded with a this word ArgfTvtketa^ deming h

loss. The radical idea seems enclo- apparently from airget^ sUver. But

sure, protection. In the Scotch this is Quite untenable. The woid

Gaelic it signifies a garden ; in Welsh is sometimes used to sienify a ccU or

it is Ifysy a hall or court. See StoJces, chamber of any sort. Four Mastfrt^

Irish Glosses (580), p. 81. A.D. 1591, page 1911. Recires, Cd-

* Oraculum. See Petrie, Round ton's Fisit, p. 80, n,
Ton.vers (Trans. R.I. Acad. p. 349), ' Determimed. See Rcerei, Jtac.

and the authorities collected by Du Chwrckis rf Armagh^ p. 5, jy.

CHAP. III.] He gives the Ardd-Macba. 479

foundation in fact. It is consistent with antient
manners; and the surprise caused by St. Patrick's
gratzachaniy which seemed so strange to Celtic
ears, has an appearance of truth. Be this, however,
as it may, Daire at length consented to give the
Hill which Patrick had originally asked for. He
gave it with all the rights^ of chieftainry which
he himself possessed; and *they went forth to-
gether,' we are told, *both Patrick and Daire, to
view the wonderful and well-pleasing gift of this
oblation,' mtrahtle ohlattonts et heneplacitum munus.
It is not, however, said in the older authority,
that on this occasion a church was built by St.
Patrick on the high place; but only that there, in
the time of the writer, was the Z/^jj^, fort, or civitas,
called Ardd-machae, and that within this fort there
was a northern church, slnistraUs ecclesia, which
may mean either a church in the northern^ part
of the fort, or a church lying north and south, not
east and west, as was usual. The name of Ardd-
machas appears to have been given to the fort or
circular enclosure, made for the protection of the
buildings erected within it.

The Tripartite Life, however, tells us expressly Foundadon
that on this occasion Patrick founded on the onthcHUi.
Dru'uHy Dorsjiniy or Hill, a church^ * in the place

^ All the rights, * Quantum speaJcing of the church : but aftcr-

habco.' wards, where he tells us that Patrick

^ Less. This word is often trans- carried the fawn to a field at the

latL'd civitas. The name of the north of Armagh, his words are < ad

fountain at Tara called Loig-Us is aquilonalem partem Airdd-machc.*
rendered by Tirechan * vitulus civi- * A church. The Irish original

tat inn/ See above, p. 442. expresses this in Latin, * ct fundavit

3 Northern. It is curious that our in eo loco ecclesiam cui nomen est

author here uses the term sinistraiii, Ardd-Machai.* Colgan^s Latin, as

SabhaU.

480 The Church on the Ardd-macha. [chap. m.

which was called Ardd-machae ; ' that Daire,
with his wife, and the chieftains of Orior,
accompanied Patrick to the hill, to mark out the
site of the new foundation ; and that they dis-
covered a roe and her fawn, lying ^ where the
Sahball is at the present day' — that is, of course,
at the time of the author. In the older narrative,
the roe and fawn are said to have been found on
the spot afterwards occupied by the altar of the
The ^ sinistralis,' or northern church. The northern

church or church was, therefore, within the rath or fort,
and is thus identified with the Sabhall^, or bam
church. St. Patrick carried the fawn on his
shoulders, and was followed by the roe to a field
{saltus) on the north side of Armagh, where he
laid down the fawn, and where miraculous appear-
ances were said to have remained. For these,
however, our author does not vouch ; but reports
their continuance on the authority of others.^ This
place is called by the Tripartite Life * a Hill,? and
named Tulach-na-letccy or * Hill of the stones/

Such is the most antient account that has come
down to us of the foundation of Armagh. It has
evidently embodied authentic traditions'; and,

we have already observed, transfers dicunt/ Book rf Arwutgk^ UA. 7,

to this foundation the description a, b. Fawns and deer are freauentlT

given in the Irish of the buildings mentioned in the Lives cff Irkh

at the Ferta. The other particulars Saints ; for some emnple^ see britk

are to be found without any essen- Nemmus^ p. 183, «.
tial difference in both copies. • TraJttietu, The Triputite Life,

^ Sab/tali, This favours the opi- both in the ori|;inal Irish md in Col-
nion that it was called Sinistralis gan's Latin, gives the genealo^ of
from its position, north and south. Daire, from whom St. Patrick re-
See above, p. 412, and Reeves, Anc. ceived Armagh. He is represented
Churches of Armagh ^ p. 12. as descended in the seventh gcnen-

^ Others. * Ubi usque hodie signa tion from CoUa-dm-criodi, son of

quanlam virtutis esse manentia periti Eochaidh Doimhien. (See TmUeif.

CHAP. III.] Patrick's visit to Rome. 481

although mingled with many evident fables,
bears undoubted evidence of high antiquity.
^' The story told in the Tripartite and some of the st Patrick*!
other Lives, that St. Patrick, immediately^ after Rome,
the foundation of Armagh, went to Rome, and
brought from thence a large collection of relics,
is unworthy of any attention. It proves, how-
ever, the unscrupulous manner in which the
lives were interpolated to prop up later super-
stitions. St. Patrick, we are told, was not long
at Rome on this occasion, when he contrived
' by a pious fraud^ or theft, whilst the keepers of
the sacred places were asleep and unconscious,'
to carry off a great quantity of relics of
apostles and martyrs, a towel stained with our
Saviour's blood, and some of the hair of His
blessed Mother. It is added that this ' pious theft'

p. 252, supra.) He is called Daire at Armagh, is in the seventh gcner-

Dearg (or the Red), and was son of ation from Colla-da-Crioch, and

Finchadh, s. of Eo^han, s. of Niall- therefore ought to have been con-

an, s. of Fiacc, s. of Fiachra Cassan, temporary with Daire. But he died

s. of Colla-da-Crioch. At the con- a.d. 704. This requires upwards

que<t of Emania in 332, Colla was of 50 years to a generation. On the

probably of mature age, and his son other hand, if Dairc's oblatipn of

may have been born. The birth of Armagh is dated 445, as in the An-

Dalre, even after making this allow- nals of Ulster, wc can only allow 18

ance, cannot therefore be referred to years to a generation. The gene-

a much earlier date than 482, and if alogy of Flann Febla is undoubtedly

he was 20 years of age when he met too short : that of Daire is probably

St. Patrick, Armagh could not have too long.

been founded before 500. Here * Immediately. Usshcr dates the

again we have a chronology much journey to Rome, a.d. 462, sevcn-

too late for the received history. teen years after the foundation of

The genealogy of Daire is not found Armagh, departing in this from the

in the Book of Lecan, nor in the authority of all the writers who have

collections of MacFirbis. O'Flaherty made any mention of St. Patrick^s

gives it (probably from the Tripar- supposed visit to Rome.

tite Life) without noticing the diffi- ^ Fraud, * Nee diu Roms sub-

(iilty. Ogyg.i^. 364. Comp. Reeves, stitit dum pio astu fiirtove, sacrorum

Churches of Armagh^ p. 47. We locorum custodibus nescientibus et

cannot, however, depend upon these dormientibus,sedsummo,utcreditur,

genealogies. Flann Febla, or Flann of conniventc Pontificc, &c.' Fit, Trip.

the Foyle, one of Patrick's successors iii. 81 (TV, TA. p. 164).

I I

482 His pious Theft. [chaf. in.

was believed to have been committed with the
connivance of the Pope himself; and the writer
exclaims in rapture^ * O wondrous deed ! O rare
theft of a vast treasure of holy things, committed
without sacrilege, the plunder of the most holy
place in the world!' Nothing, however, is said,
even by this author, of an archiepiscopal jurisdic-
tion. His authorities were probably compiled
before that claim had been thought of ; otherwise
we may be sure he would have had no more scruple
in making the Pope do all that was necessary, than
Joceline had, who tells us^ that the supreme Pon-
tiff, embracing Patrick, declared him to be the
Apostle of Ireland, invested him with the pallium,
made him his legate, and confirmed by the autho-
rity of the Holy See whatever he had done in
Ireland. '^
st.Patricki Tradition ascribes to St. Patrick, or to the
the^plgan influcncc of St. Patrick, the important work of

laws.

reforming the antient Druidical or Pagan laws of

> Rapture. < O minim facinus, in his mother^s womb, and returned

rarumque ingentis thesauri ex loco to Ireland accompamicd by thirty

mundi sacratissimo rapti sacrarum- foreign bishops, it is stnuise that

que rerum furtum, sme sacrilegio Ussher should hare gtren weight to

commissum/ Ibid, For the history such £ibles. He assumes the truth

of the relics of Armagh, see Book of of the legend that Patrick^ on hb

Hymns, p. 44, sq, way to Ireland with Pope Celestine*s

^ Tells us. * Imprimis ergo ilium, commission in 432, Tisited the FaSs

ut Hibemiae Apostolum amplexans, kosina^ or Meneria, and predicted

ac pronuncians, pallio decoravit, il- that David would be bom thirrr

Ii.|ue vices suas committens, atque years afterwards. CoXgan^ Jctt. SS,

legatum suum constituens, quaecum- p. 415. Therefore Dayid was bora

que in Hibemia gesserat, constitue- m 461, and therefore in that year,

rat, disposuerat, authoritatis suar David being in his niother^s womb,

munlmine confirmavit.* Jocel. c. Patrick was returning from Rome,

166 (Tr. Th.y p. 101). We are in- and predicted the future eminence of

formed also by Joceline, that Patrick, the unborn infant, according to Jo-

on his way bark from Rome, tra- celine, c. 147. See Lanigan*s con-

\ elicit through Britain, founded and futation of these stories ; EccL Hist. \.

restored churches, predicted the p. 3x9, J9.
future eminence of St. David, then

CHAP. III.] Reform of the Pagan Laws. 483

Ireland. When king Laoghairc and his nobles ThcScn-
had professed Christianity, so runs the story, a "^ "*
council of nine was formed, to examine the laws
of the kingdom, and render them consistent with
the principles of the Gospel. This council con-
sisted of three kings, three saints or bishops, and
three bards or historians. Their names ^ have
been recorded ; and the work said to have been
compiled by them is still extant. It bears the
title of Sencbus Mor, or "Great Antiquity.'
It has been also called Cain Patraic, or * Patrick's
Law,' and Noi-fs^y * Knowledge of Nine.' So
we are expressly told in the antient Prefatory
descriptions of this work, first published by Dr.
Pctrie, from two MSS. in the library of Trinity
College, Dublin. These descriptions, as well as
the work itself, establish the fact that it is a
body of antient laws, " modified,' as Dr. Petrie^
concludes, " at some period subsequent to the

' Names. An antient rann or qua- xxi. p. ci. sq.) The three bards were

train, preserved in Cormac's Glos- Ros, Dubhtach mac Ui Lugair, and

sary, and quoted by the Four Mas- Fergus. See Petrie, On Tara Hill,

ters, A.D. 438, gives the names as p. 69, jq. The biographers of St.

follows : — the three kings, Laog- Patrick, with the exception of Joce-

halre [King of Ireland], Core line, make no mention of the ^/ffr^«/

[King of Munster], Daire [King Mcr, and Dr. Lanigan says, * What

ot Oriel]. Core was the grand- has become of the ^^affr^vi more is

father of Aonghus mac Natfraich, uncertain,' i. p. 371. He was not

the first Christian King of Munster. aware that it was still extant. Keat-

He must have died in paganism, be- ing gives an erroneous account of it.

fort- the time of Patrick. This is He had evidently never seen it, and

therefore a palpable anachronism. imagined it to be a collection of

Daire is supposed to have been the historical traditions, not a Code

rhicftain from whom Patrick re- of Laws. Sec 0''Mahony*s Tratul.

cclved the grant of Armagh. The p. 410, so,

three saints were Patrick, Benen ' Noi-Jb. From Not, 'ninej'ySj,

(who was only a child at the Feis of * knowledge j' less correctly written

Fara), and Cairnech ; he may have No-es, by dropping thtf. See Cor-

been Cairnech of Cornwall, who was mac's Glossary by Stokes (Williams

(ontemporary with St. Patrick, not and Norgate, 1862), p. 31. Petrie,

ti\c Irish Cairnech, who lived to A.D. On Tara, p. 71.
530. (See Iris/i NenniuSy Append. No. ' Dr, Petrie. Ibid. The name ot

I I 2

484

The Sencbus Mor.

[chap. m.

introduction of Christianity, to agree with Chris-
tian doctrines/ It is not impossible that such a
work may have been begun in the times of St
Patrick, but the Senchus Mor, in its present
form, cannot be of so remote an age. It has
at least received large interpolations, many of
them clearly fabulous ; portions of it, how-
ever, are of great antiquity, and the remainder,
making allowance for comparatively modem alte-
rations, introduced by ignorant or fraudulent
transcribers, can scarcely be regarded as of later
date than the ninth or tenth century/
stPabick'. Of the other works^ attributed to St. Patrick,

Synods. '

Senchus Mor, * Antiquitas Magna/
misled Colgan, who describes this
work as *Unum grandc opus dc
Hibemix antlquitatibus et sanction!-
bus legalibus.' Tr. Th.^ p. 214.
Colgan 's authority seems to have
led Laniean, 0*Conor, and others,
into similar mistakes. These errors
were first corrected by Dr. Petrie.
See also O' Donovan's notes, four
Masters, a.d. 438.

* Century, This curious book is
now in the press, and the first volume
will shortly be published by the Irish
Brehon Law Commissioners. See
O'Curry's Lectures, p. 16. The
unexpected death of Mr. O' Curry,
whicn followed so soon after that of
his colleague. Dr. O'Donovan, has
greatly retarded the appearance of
this work, and will also necessarily
diminish its value, as it must now ap^
pear without the advantage of their
editorial superintendence.

« Other ivorks. These will be
found in the Opuscula S. Patricii of-
Ware ard Viilanueva, but they arc
certainly not by St. Patrick. The
tracts De tribus Habitaculis and De
duodecim abusionibus SecuJi, are in a
style of Latinity so far superior to
that of the Confessio, pnd Letter

about Coroticus, that it is impombk
they could be by the same author.
They quote the Hieronymian Vul-
gate, and they contain no historical
or any other allusion to connect tbcir
author with Ireland. They htte
been both attributed to St. Augus-
tine, and the latter of them also to
St. Cyprian. T\it Three HabUmHm
described in the former tract are
this present world, heaven, and hcQ.
There is not a word of purgatory {
nevertheless Casimir Oudin sm
* Attributum hunc Patricio ab Hi-
bemis librum arbitratus sum quod
illic de Purgatorio a^tur, atque itt
cum Purgatori§ Fairuiwnwp^ Hi-
beraos celeberrtmo convenire opinad
sunt.* De Scr^L torn. i. ti6t. It
is evident from these words that this
learned writer had nerer taken the
trouble to read the tract De trihm
HabitacuUsi and also that he was
ignorant of the real meaning ol
St. Patrick^s Purgatory in IirGuid,
which was in no sense of the word a
Habitacubtsm, It was written hdait
the Put^atmimm PeOriamtmrn was
heard ofT There is no eridencc that
it was ever attributed to St. PUrick
ly the Irish, The Chmrim S. P#-
tricis, de mssHfrntette jHmkmem, k a

CHAP. Ill

]

St. Patrick's Synods.

485

the most celebrated are the Synods, or ecclesias-
tical Canons, published under his name, in the
great Collections of the Councils.* It is scarcely
possible, however, to receive these Canons as really
his, although some of them were certainly written
during the predominance of Paganism in the
country ; but others bear internal evidence of a
much later date.

The Synod said to have been held ' by Patrick, synod of
Auxilius, and Iserninus,' has better claims to anti- Au"iiiui,
quity than the rest. If genuine, it must have been J^^us!**^
held before the year 459 [= a.d. 460] ; because
the annals of Ulster record the death of Auxi-
lius in that year, and the death of Iserninus in

palpable forgery, intended to prop
up the fable of St. Patrick's con-
nexion with Glastonbury, and be-
traying the modern origin of that
legend. See Lanigan, i. p. 328.
There are tracts, poems, &c., in the
Irish language, attributed to St.
Patrick in various MSS. j but none
of them have any appearance of au-
thenticity, with the exception of the
curioui Hymn of which a translation
ha^ been given, p. 426, supra.

* Councils. See also Spelman, Wil-
kins, Ware, and Villanueva. Joce-
line tells us that Patrick composed a
great volume of Canons, called
Canoin Fhadruig, *the Canons of
Patrick,' c. 185. Tr. Th.^ p. 106.
By this great volume, however, it is
most probable that the Senchus mor
is intended. Its Irish title was not
Canoitiy Canons, or ecclesiastical
rules, but Cain Patraic, * the law of
Patrick.' This word properly sig-
nifies a tax or tribute; and denoted
such laws as had reference to the im-
position of taxes or tributes. A lawfor
exempting the clergy from military
service, which appears to have been
enacted about the beginning of the
8th century, was enforced by the in-

fluence of the successors of Patrick
at Armagh, under the name of * the
Cain or law of Patrick.* See Pctrie,
On Taray p. 172, 173. The Cmn of
Adamnan, at an earlier period, aimed
at exempting women from military
service. Reeves, Adamnan^ p. 179.
But the name was also given to cer-
tain tributes, collected by the see of
Armagh, and by the monastic socie-
ties. Thus Caencomhrac mac Mael-
uidhir, monastic bishop and abbot
of Deny, is styled Maor cana Ad-
amnain^ steward (or procurator) of
AdamnaiTs tribute. Colgan renders
this phrase ' Conservator canonum,*
mistaking Cana^ the een. singular of
Cainy for the gen. plur. of Canon,
See above, p. 170, 171, and Reeves,
Adamnany p. 393, ». We mav, there-
fore, pardon Joceline for confounding
these words. The word Canon was
sometimes used to signify the Canon
of the' Old and New Testaments, or
parts of it. Thus the Book of Ar-
magh was often called Canon of
Patrick, becaused it belonged to
Armagh, and contained a copy of
the New Testament. Reeves, iUd.^
p. 359, and see above, p. 103.

486 Probable Date of the Synod [chap. in.

468 [= A.D. 469]. Secundinus, Auxilius, and
Iserninus, according to the same annals, came as
bishops^ to assist St. Patrick, (that is to say, they
probably accompanied him to Ireland) in 439
[=z= A.D. 440]. Secundinus is not named as having
assisted in the Synod. It may have been held
after 447 [= a.d. 448], the year of that bishop's
death. But a different cause can be assigned for
the omission of his name. Auxilius and Iser-
ninus, but not Secundinus, are said to have been
ordained, along with St. Patrick, for the Irish
mission ; perhaps, as Colgan suggests, they were
then ordained priests^ and afterwards conse-
crated bishops by St. Patrick himself. For this
reason, therefore, Auxilius and Iseminus were
represented as sitting in synod with Patrick.
The history of Secundinus being more purely
Irish, may possibly have been unknown to the
compiler of this collection of Canons.
Its sixth The following Canon ^ the sixth of this Synod,

is evidence of a very rude state of society. It
seems to have been enacted before the celibacy of
the clergy was enforced in Ireland, but after the
adoption of the Roman tonsure : —

^ What cleric soever, from an ostiarius to a priest, who $hall
be seen without a tunic, or who does not cover his nakedness,

* if/ ^ijA(7^j. The words are *init- tcnc, adds /fMortfA'] tisus fucrit.

tuntur et episcopi ipsi in auxilium atque turpitudineixi ventm ct nudi

Patricii/ We are not told by whom tatcm non tceat : et si non more

they were sent. Romano capilli ejus tonsi sint, et

'^ Priests. See above, p. 317, »., uxor ejus si non velato capitc imbu-

and Colgan's note, 39, 4.0. 7r. Th.^ laverit ; pariter a laici^ contempnen-

p. 18. tur et ab ecclesia separentur/ Sec

' Canon, Villanueva, p. 2, can. vi. Martcne's edit, of this Svnod, Tkts,

'(^uirunqiie clericus, ab ostiario us- N9*u, Anted, tom. 4, col. 5.
(]uc ad sacerdotem, sine tunica [Mar-

Canon,

CHAP. III.] of Patrick^ Auxi/ius, and Iserninus. 487

or if his hairs are not tonsured after the Roman manner, or if
his wife does not walk with her head veiled, let them* [/.^. the
cleric and his wife] ' be despised by the laity, and also separated
from the church.'

This allusion to the Roman tonsure clearly Allusion to
indicates that the canon was as late as the eighth tousu^*"
century, and probably not earlier than the tenth.
Adamnan, in his conversation with the abbat
Coeltrid^ whilst he allows to the Irish tonsure
the opprobrious name of Simon Magus, defends
it, nevertheless, as having been down to that time
the ^custom of his country,' ex consuetudine patria.
Tighernach, in his Annals, gives a.d. 718 as the
date of the adoption of the Roman tonsure by
the community of Hi. The antient catalogue of
the three Orders of Saints tells us that the first
and second orders agreed in the same tonsure
^ from ear to ear,' which was derived from
Patrick, and that ^ different tonsures ' were the
characteristic of the third order only. It is
clearly impossible, therefore, that St. Patrick^

^ CoelfriJ. See this abbat's letter p. 505, Con, H'tbem. lib. L. c. 6.
to Nalton, King of the Picts (dated « St. Patrick. Villanueva maln-
A.D. 710), inBede,lib.v.c. 21. The tains the contrary, p. 34, sq.y and
Irish tonsure consisted in shaving all Ware, Opusc. p. 124, says that the
the hair in front of aline drawn over Catalogue was wrong in attributing
the top of the head from ear to ear. to the first and second orders the
Hence Coeifrid's curious argument tonsure from car to ear. But the
with Adamnan, * O, holy brother. Catalogue, which concurs with the
who believest that thou art advancing Irish Annals, with Tighernach and
to the crown of a life that knoweth Bcde, with Adamnan, is surely more
no end, why dost thou wear on thy to be relied upon than a collection
head, by a custom contrary to thy of canons which Ware himself ad-
faith, the figure of a crown which is mits to be interpolated, and whose
hounded ? ' i.e. the circular crown date is by no means ascertained. See
represents a life without end; the Dr. Lanigan's remarks on this canon,
Iri>h tonsure, where but half the vol. iv. p. 360, /^. Villanueva*s
head was shaven, was a semi-circle, learned dissertation is far from satis-
terminated at the line drawn from factory. It is not clear that he knew
ear to ear. Reeves, Adamnarty p. what the Irish tonsure was.
xlvii. 350. Cf. D'Achery, Spicii i.

488 The second Synod [chaf. m.

could have been the author of a canon^ enforcing
the Roman tonsure on all the Irish clergy.

Many things in these canons seem to imply a
more near approach to diocesan jurisdiction, as
well as a more settled state of Christianity in the
country, than was possible in the days of St.
Patrick. We may not, therefore, be greatly in
error if we assign this collection, at least in its
present form, to the ninth or tenth century. It
is probably Irish, as the enactment against the
admission of clergy from Britain^, without
letters from their bishops, would seem to prove.
And it is possible that this may have been
suggested by the similar canons made in England,
in the ninth century, to restrain the wandering
bishops of the Scoti.^ We have already noticed*
the canon in which offerings made to the bishop
are mentioned as ^ an antient custom ' — mos ants-
quus. This could not possibly have been written
by St. Patrick ; there could have been no such
a7itte7it custom in Ireland in the fifth century.
The second Thc othcr Synod attributed to St. Patrick has
Irpat^fck. ^^^^ l^ss pretension to genuineness. Easter,
Pentecost, and the Epiphany^ are spoken of as the

^ Canon, Canons 14 and 1 5 enact tannis ad nos Tenit sine epistola, etsi

a year of penitence only for a Chris- habitet in plebe, non licittun minis-

tian who is guilty of murder, forni- trare.* Can, 33.

cation, or of consulting an augur ' Scott. See p. ^^ swfrm,

(haruspicem), and half a year for a * Noticed, See above, p. 4, m.

Christian guilty of theft. This * Epipfuutf, Can. 19,^40*^, p. 36.

can scarcely belong to the fifth This seems like an usage of the

century. See Tillemont, Mem, EccL Greek church, where the Epiphiny

xvi. p. 786. Canon 16 excom- is by some regarded as commcmor-

municates the Christian who believes ating the baptism of Christ ; Sd-

in a ghost or a witch seen in a mir- 'vaggii Antiqq, torn. ii. p. soo. Pope

ror, ' qui crediderit esse Lamiam in Leo the Great, in his letter xri.,

speculo, quae interpretatur Striga.* ad efiscopos Sicmhs^ objects to tbe

' Britain, * Clericus qui de firi- custom of baptising on the Epi-

CHAP. Ill] not by St. Patrick. 489

seasons of baptism. Novatianism is mentioned ;
a heresy which is not known to have ever
appeared in Ireland. The 7th canon seems
to imply that controversy about rebaptising the
lapsed had arisen. Second marriages appear to
have been allowed, in case of adultery^, by the
^6th and 29th of these canons ; and the 57th ren-
ders necessary the consent of the parent before
a virgin could contract matrimony, or enter the
religious life. This, as Tillemont^ observes, was
not in accordance with the practice usually attri-
buted to St. Patrick. It is, on the whole, very
doubtful whether this Synod be Irish; and it is
certain that Patrick could not have been its author.

We are now come to the death of St. Patrick, st Patrick's
Upon this subject, as was to h^ve been expected,
legend has been busy. An angel in a burning
bush predicts his approaching dissolution. A
light from heaven indicates the spot in which
his remains are to be laid. St. Brigid, moved by
divine inspiration, embroiders with her own hands
the shroud in which his corpse is to be wrapped.
For a space of twelve days, or according to some
authorities for an entire year^, the sun stood still

phany, and designates it * an unrea- malgrc leurs percs.' Mem. EccL xvi.

sonable novelty,' irrattonabiUm no- p. 787.

'vitatem. But the Epiphany was a ^ Year, It is a strong presump-

solemn day for the administration of tion, against the pretensions of the

baptism in the Oriental and African hymn of Fiacc to antiquity, that it

churches j Sel'vag. Ibid. torn. v. p. has given the legend in this extreme

47, 48. form, * For an entire year there was

* Adultery. But this is expressly l|g^^» 2. continued long ^y.* Tr.

prohibited by can. 5 of another so- Th. p. 3. Lani|^ suggests that

called Patrician collection. fVare^ the multitude of lights kept burning

p. 40. at the tomb by the clergy, may have

TilUmont. * Paroist contraire a given birth to this legend, i. P* 364 ;

S. Patrice, qui recevoit les Vierges but this explanation is insufficient.

490 Death of Patrick. [chaf. ui.

over his tomb, and the district of Magh-inis, in
which he was entombed, enjoyed a perpetual
day. The clergy of Ireland, assembled at his
obsequies, heard the heavenly hosts assisting to
sing the requiem.
Died at The historical fact seems to be that St. Patrick

Saul, not at nii i/^ii* i i-

Armagh, was at Saul when he felt his end approaching.
\ His first wish was to reach Armagh before his
death, that his body might be there interred.
But perhaps this clause was inserted into the
story in compliment to the Armagh clergy.
The interposition of an angel compelled him, in
obedience to a divine command, to choose Saul,
and not Armagh, as the place of his departure ; for
as he was setting out for Armagh, intending there
to die, his guardian angel, Victor, sent another

His four angel to command him to return to Saul. It was
announced to him that the four petitions which
he had asked of God were granted to him ; first,
that his jurisdiction^ should have its seat in

Jocclinc (c. 193), the Tripartite (iii. magh^ fol. %^ a.a, FiacG mdcn
c. 106), and Probus (ii 34), make this in AnlmacAa JU rigJki, * In AnJ*
the duration of the light twelve days macha est regnum/ Sir, %%, Ttc
only. The author of Fita '^tia says Vita 3tia, c. 88, gives it • Oidina-
(c. 90), that the twelve days' light tie gratia? tuae in Ardmacka ficT.*
rendered candles unnecessary, * ne Probus (ii. c. 3a) * ut in tota Hi-
lucernsaccenderentur juxta corpus f bemia fiat a Domino Alutis pre-
and that the darkness of the remain- statio de mentis tuis.'* Jocelin, c.
ing nights of the year was but mode- 187, has it, * in Ardmachiae urbe
rate \ * non erant ibi tenebra? usque quam diligis, [erit] gradae tibi col-
ad finem anni nisi modicae tenebne/ latae successiva administratio.* The
c. 92. The Book of Armagh says Tripartite says, «in ea Regni Metro-
that this was the story told by the peo- polis fixa, supremaque ccdcm Hi-
ple of Ulidia only, < £t plebs Ulod bemicae administratio, publicaqiK
dixerunt quod UM]ue in hnem anni auctoritasconsistcnt^(iii.c. 101). But
totius in quo obierat numquam noc- «• • • •
tium talcs tcncbrx* erant quales antea

petitions.

Fiacc has given the true meaning —
• thy kingdom ' — • thy chieftaiitthip.*
See three other petitions 0' ~
trick, D^Achcry, S^dL \
chx- Hat ordinatio tua.' Book ofAr- Con, Hibem. Ub. Ixir. c. 5.

fucrunt,' \o\. 8, a.b. See three other petitions of St. Pa-

» Jurisdiction, * Ut in Ardd-ma- trick, D*Achcry, SpiciL i. p. 50"

CHAP. III.] Contest for bis Body, 491

Armagh ; secondly, that whoever, at the hour of
death, should sing the hymn composed in his
honour, (meaning the hymn by St. Sechnall,)
should have Patrick as the judge^ of his repent- ^
ance ; thirdly, that the descendants of Dichu^
should receive mercy and not perish ; fourthly,
that Patrick, as the apostle of Ireland, should be
the judge of all the Irish in the last day, accord-
ing to the promise made to the other apostles —
' ye shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
tribes of Israel.'

This story bears internal evidence of having contest for
been framed with a view to a compromise between
between the people of Armagh or Orior, and the Neiii La
people of Ulidia. We are told that after the '*^*°"''-
death of St. Patrick, a bitter feud arose between
the Hy Neill and the people of Orior, for the /

possession of his remains. Peace was restored /

by a circumstance which looks. not unlike a con-
trivance of the clergy to prevent bloodshed. i
Two untamed oxen^ were chosen to carry the
bier of the saint, and it was arranged that the
oxen should be allowed to go forth of their own
accord, without human guidance, and that in the
spot where they stopped, there the sacred remains

* J^^S^' The meaning of this time when it was no loneer neces-

douhtless is that Patrick, would be a saiy to conciliate the ramily of

more lenient or indulgent judge than Dichu. And so also Probus (ii c.

the Almighty. 31) for * nepotes Dichon,' substitutes

- Dichu. * Ut nepotes Dichon, qui * qui tuam memoriam benig^ne ctlc-

te benigne susciperunt, misericor- braverint.'

(liam mereantur, et non pereant.' ' Oxen. This storf , like many of

Book of Armagh, ibid. It is remark- the better sort of legends in the Lives

ai)le that Fiacc, although he enume- of the Saints, is an imitation of the

rates the other petitions {St. 25, 26) Scriptures. Sec i Sam. vi. 7, sq,
( mits this. He lived, therefore, at a

49 2 Contest for the Body of Patrick, [chaf. m.

should be interred. They rested at Dun-da-lcth-
glaisse, the site of the present cathedral of Down,
^ a place which had been previously the fortified
^ residence^ of the chieftains of Ulidia. This fact
; probably led to the selection of it as an ecclesias-
tical establishment. But the contention between
the two clans was not so easily brought to an end.
They met at a place which Muirchu Maccumach-
theni, in the Book of Armagh, calls ' a certain
strait^ named Collutn bovis;* there the tide rose so
high that the contending parties were forced to
separate. They prepared, however, to meet again;
but on marching in arms to the field of battle,
were happily deceived^ by the appearance of a
The con- bicr bomc by two oxen. Each tribe followed
tribes se- the bier, which seemed, by a divine guidance, to
anTrtificfc Carry the relics of Patrick into its respective ter-
ritory. The armies separated without bloodshed,
under the persuasion that each was the possessor
of the coveted treasure. The antient narrative
intimates^ that the Orior claimants followed their

^ Residence, The antient earth- ^ Intimates, * Putantes s

works, which are extensive, still re- bovesetplaustniminTentre,ctcoqms

main near the Cathedral. This place sanctum rapere aestimabant, et cmB

was called Aras Celtchmr^ * House of corpore et tsui prxpuatu et annatun,

CtXtchziyRath Celtchair yOi Dun Celt- usque ad fluuium Uabcenne peimiie-

chair i from Celtchar, or Keltchar, runt, et corpus tunc illis noii com-

a warrior who flourished about the ^ruit/ Book of Amu^k^ fol. X^hjs.

commencement of the Christian era. The Vita 3tia (c. 91^, sajrs that

Reeves, Down and Connor y p. 142. the Ulidians followed tneir waggon

^ Strait, < Fretum quoddam quod to Down, and the Orion dietis to

CoUum bo*vis vocatur.* Book qfAr- Armagh, both believing themsdves

mag A, fol. 8, b.a. See Reeves, Down to be in possession of the body of

and Connor, p. 236. This was pro- the saint. The Vita ^ta ays that

bably a ford on the narrow inlet of the wageon of the Oriorsdiappear-

Strangford Lough, called Quoile, ed, but that the Ultonianx had the

which separates Inch parish from real waegon, and buried the n

Saul. of St. Patrick at Down (c

' Decei*ved, * Felici scducti sunt Probus follows Muirchu, but

fallacia,' B. ofArmagh^ fol. 8, ^, a, the triumph to the Ultoniaiii, 1

CHAP. III.] St. Patrick buried at Down. 493

bier, and proceeded towards Armagh, until, on
reaching the river CabcennaS the bier and oxen
vanished. Believing the deception to have been The poe-
a divine interposition, both parties allowed the the tomb
feud to drop, as neither could claim a triumph. dTwd-*
The general opinion, however, was, and it seems ^'*^*^^'
to have held its ground undisputed for many
years, that Patrick was buried at Down. This
opinion is strongly confirmed by the fact that the i
legend, as above told, is found in the Book of
Armagh, which amounts to a concession on the
part of Armagh in favour of Dc^wn. The Book (
of Armagh was compiled, as every one who has
examined it must see, with the manifest intention
of supporting the then growing pretensions of
the church of Armagh. It is not easy to con-
ceive, therefore, that a claim to the possession of
the tomb and relics of their founder would have
been easily conceded by the Armagh clergy, if
public opinion or indisputable facts had not been
very strongly in favour of Downpatrick. It is
true that Tirechan tells us expressly, as one of
the similitudes between Patrick and Moses, and
the same thing is repeated by Nennius, that the
place of his interment was unknown.^ But this

that the waggon of the Oriors expressly (iii. c. 1 08), that this river

vanished at the river Caubene (ii. c. was near the city, *cum tendentes

40). Joceline (c. 195) and the Tri- Ardmacham, civitati appropinqua-

partite (iii. c. 108) tell the same rent, plaustrum illud imaginarium

story. disparuit.* Sec also Probus (ii. 40).

* Cabcenna. This river must have The name Cabccnna, Caucune (i.e.

been near Armagh ; Joceline says Cavcune), Caubene, is no longer rc-

(c. 195), * Donee pcrvenirent in con- membered in the district.
finio Ardmachanae provinciae, ad ' Unknown, * Ubi sunt ossa ejus

(juendam fluvium Caucune nomina- nemo novit.* Tirechan {Book of Ar-

turn/ The Tripartite Life says magh^ ^. 15, b.b,) <Sepulchrum

494

Date of St. Patrick's Death. [cHAP.m.

Date of Sl
Patrick*s
death ac-
cording to
Ussher ;

is an admission that his sepulchre was certainly
not at Armagh, nor even supposed to be there;
and in another place, Tirechan seems to admit
the truth of the other tradition when, he tells us,
that Columbcille, ^ by inspiration^ of the Holy
Ghost,' had pointed out the tomb of St. Pa-
trick at Saul, ^ in a church near the sea/
Downpatrick is probably intended. Muirchu
Maccumachtheni, however, leaves no doubt upon
this point, for he tells us that when a church*
was about to be built at Dun-da-leth-glaissc, or
Downpatrick, t^ie workmen coming upon the
relics of St. Patrick, were terrified, and compelled
to desist, by the flames w hich issued from the
tomb.^

The exact date of St. Patrick's death has been
much disputed; and it is unnecessary here to
discuss the question at any length. Ussher is
strongly in favour of the year 493. The tradi-
tion that Patrick was born, baptised, and died on
Wednesday, and the coincidence that the 17th
of March (the day of his deathj, was Wedncs-

illius non invenitur, sed in ocrulto
humatus est, nemine scientc' Nen-
ttiusy c. 60, p. 102 (ed. Bertram,
Hu'vmdPf 1758).

* Inspiration, * Spiritu sancto in-
stigante.' Book of Armagh ^ fol. 15,
b.h.y 16, a.a. See also Petrie, On
Tar ay p. 115. This passage of
Tirechan is very obscure, and no
duiiht also corrupt. See the proposed
emendation of it by Dr. Reeves,
Adamtiany p. 313.

' Church. * Exicrunt [bovc>], Dei
nutu regentc,ad Dun-leth-glaissc,ubi
scpultusest Patricius J etdixit ( angue-
lus] ci ne relitjuix ex terra reducun-

tur corporis tui et cubitus dc tcm
super corpus fiat ; quod juani Dei
factum in noviuimis dcmoiutrmtum
est temporibus, quia quando »'!»-
via super corpus facta est, fodiente
humum antropi \Mpmmm\ ignem a
sepulchro inrumpere videnint, ct R-
cedentes flammigenun timuerunt
flammx ignem/ Book of Arwuofk^
fol. 8, b.a, ^

» Tomb, The whole subject of the
burial place of St. Patrick is ably
treated by Dr. Reeves, Dowm maJ
Connor^ p. aij, sq. See also the
same autnor*s edition of Ad
p. iii,sq.

CHAP. III.] Said to have died on Wednesday. 495

day in 493, seemingly confirm Ussher's opinion.
But no great importance can be assigned to the
Wednesday tradition ; it is not found in any
antient authority, and, as we have already sug-
gested \ it probably originated in the fact that
the year 493, in which the 17th of March was
Wednesday, had been generally received as the
year of Patrick's death.

The Bollandists maintain that Patrick died in according
460, aged 82. They assume his mission by Boiundistsj
Celestine ; and on the authority of Joceline, they
assume also that he was then (a.d. 432) ^^ years
of age. They assert, with Baronius and Petau,
that instead of 120 or 132, as some have it, we
should read 82^ as the total duration of his life ;
and therefore they infer that he lived to the
beginning of the 28th year after his arrival in
Ireland, and died 17th March, 460.

To this Dr. Lanigan objects that in 460 the according
1 7th of March fell on Thursday, and not on ° *^" '
Wednesday. He proposes, therefore, to follow
the authority of the Bodleian MS. of the annals
of Inisfallen'^ where we are told that St. Patrick
died in the year 432 from the Passion of our
Lord, a date which corresponds to 465 of the

^ Suggested. See above, p. 450. n. O'Conor, Rer, Hih. Scriptt. ii. part.

'^ Read%z. That is to say, the 2, p. 4. The chronology of these

numerals cxxxii. are to be read annals, however, is not to be

Ixxxli. This may be what Lanigan depended upon; they tell us here

means when he says that the Bol- that St. Patrick died in the same

Lmdists * guessed at A.D. 460 ' (vol. i. year as St. Mac Cuillinn of Lusk.

p. 463, note 131); but although This was 496, according to the An-

tounded on very arbitrary assump- nals of Tighernach and Ulster, the

tions their opinion was more than a year in which PopeGelasius I. died,

guess. and in which there was an eclipse of

^ Inisf alien. See Lanigan, i. 362. the sun.

ULtcr.

496 Tradition of the ScotL [chaf.iil

common era of the Nativity. This allows 33
years for his missionary life in Ireland, supposing
him to have come in a.d. 435, and (what to
Lanigan was a strong confirmation) the 17th of
March, in the year so determined, fell on Wed-
nesday.

But if we adopt this date, it will follow that
Patrick died in the reign of OilioU Molt, eighteen
years before Lugaidh, son of Laoghaire, succeeded
to the throne ; and we must therefore reject all
that we find in our antient records of his inter-
view with the latter monarch.
according *T\ic Aunals of Ulstcr tell us that the Scoti^

to the 1 i_ 1 •

Annah of supposcd thc ycar 49 1 to have been the date ot
St. Patrick's death ; and in the next year, 49::,
the same annals again record the death of St
Patrick in these words : * Patricius archipostuliis
Scotorum quievit'".* We are, therefore, justified
in drawing the inference that this was the date
assigned to the death of St. Patrick in the antient
traditions of the country : the scrtpta Scotorum of
which Nennlus so often speaks. The tradition
seems to have varied between the years 49 1 and
492 ; a difference of little importance. It should
be observ ed, however, that these years correspond'

* Scoti. The words are, < Dicunt nal% vii., 4.91, Kal. Jan. feria 4;
Sroiti hie Patriclum archiepiscopum and 491, Kal. Jan. fena 6. That b
defunctum." to say, the ist of Jan. 491 ^= a.d.

• ^uirvit. They add, to square 49O ^^^'^^^Qc^dayyand thc i«
this with the Roman mission, <c^xx^ of Jan. 491 (= a.d. 49)) on Fri-
anno xtatis sue : Ix. a quo venit day ; the fbnner Tear being bwez-
ad Hibcmiam anno ad baptizandos tile. The first date in the Annab
Scotos.* of Ulster, is * Anno ab 1

' Correspond. This appears from Domini .cccc*.xxx*.i».'
thc Sunday letters given in the An-

CHAP. III.] The most probable Date. 497

to 492 and 493 of the common era, the dates in
the early portion of the annals of Ulster being
counted from the Incarnation, and being, there-
fore, one year before the common era of the Na-
tivity of our Lord.

On the whole, it seems most probable that The true
Ussher's decision in favour of a.d. 493 is correct, probawy
It accords w^ith the later date which the evi- '^'*' '♦ca-
dence of the epistle about Coroticus and of the
Confession appears to assign^ to the arrival of
St. Patrick in Ireland. It is undoubtedly the
testimony of the Irish annals, derived from
anticnt national traditions. The principal objec-
tion^ to this date is the supposition of a regular
succession of bishops, in the modern sense of
the word, at Armagh ; with the assumption that
Sccundinus, Benignus, and Jarlath could not
have been the successors of St. Patrick if they
had died before him. But this is no real objection,
and is founded on ignorance of the antient eccle-
siastical customs of Ireland. Another objection,
that the year 493 is based upon the fable of the
four periods of thirty years in Patrick's life, and
upon the similitudes to Moses, is more apparent
than real. St. Patrick may have died in 493, with-
out having reached the age of 120, and without
having spent sixty years in his Irish mission. It
was not, therefore, the year 493, as the date of
his death, which required the help of the Mosaic
similitudes ; but that date having been fixed by

^ To assign. See above, p. 391. ^ Objection, Sec this objection

sq. Stated by Lanigan, i. p. 355, sq,

K K

498 Review of St. Patrick's Mission, [chaw. m.

the tradition of the Scoti, the attempt to make
the year of his mission 4,^2 was the real cause of
the legends referred to, and of the confusion
which exists in the chronology of his life.
St Patrick In reviewing the history of St. Patrick's mis-
dressed sionary labours, we are struck by the fact that he
the chief, appears to have always addressed himself in the
first instance to the kings or chieftains. In Da-
laradia, where his earliest church was founded,
the site was obtained from the chieftain of the
country, Dichu. At Tara he attacked Paganism
in its head quarters, and succeeded in obtaining
from King Laoghaire a reluctant toleration of his
ministry, and an outward profession, at least, of
Christianity. In Connaught he addressed him-
self to the chieftains of Tirawley, and preached
to the people at the great assembly of the tribe.
In Munster, if that part of his story be true, his
first convert was King Aengus himself, whom he
baptised at Cashel, the seat of the kings. In Ar-
magh he obtained the favour of Daire, chieftain
of the Airtheara or Orior, and received from him
the * civitas ' which afterwards became the eccle-
siastical metropolis of Ireland.
Thii policy This policy may have been pursued by St.

founded on ... . i /• • /• «

hu know- Patrick as much from necessity as from a know-
^ple! ^ ledge of the character and habits of the people.
The chieftain once secured, the clan, as a matter
of course, were disposed to follow in his steps. To
attempt the conversion of the clan, in oppo^tion
to the will of the chieftain, would probably have
been to rush upon inevitable death, or at the least

CHAP. III.] Cause of bis rapid Success. 499

to risk a violent expulsion from the district.
The people may not have adopted the outw^ard
profession of Christianity, which was all perhaps
that in the first instance they adopted, from any
clear or intellectual appreciation of its superiority
to their former religion ; but to obtain from the
people even an outward profession of Christianity
was an important step to ultimate success. It
secured toleration at least for Christian institu-
tions. It enabled Patrick to plant in every tribe
his churches, schools, and monasteries. He
was permitted without opposition to establish
among the half Pagan inhabitants of the country
societies of holy men, whose devotion, usefulness,
and piety soon produced an effect upon the most
barbarous and savage hearts.

This was the secret of the rapid success attri- cameof
butcd to St. Patrick's preaching in Ireland. The ^p^^''*
chieftains were at first the real converts. The ^^^
baptism of the chieftain was immediately followed
by the adhesion of the clan. The clansmen
pressed eagerly round the missionary who had
baptised the chief, anxious to receive that myste-
rious initiation into the new faith to which
their chieftain and father had submitted. The
requirements preparatory to baptism do not
seem to have been very rigorous ; and it is,
therefore, by no means improbable, that in
Tirawley, and other remote districts where the
spirit of clanship was strong, Patrick, as he tells
us himself he did, may have baptised some
thousands of men.

K K 2

500 Remains of Paganism tolerated, [chaf. ul

Histoicra- III this policy, also, we may perceive the cause
Pa^fsu-* of that spirit of toleration which he seems to
pcrttitiona. j^^^^ shcwH towatds thc old supcrstitions. Con-
scious that he had gained only the outward
adherence of the adult members of the clan^ he
was compelled to use great caution in his
attempts to overthrow the antient monuments
and usages of Paganism. It was only in some
rare instances that he ventured upon the destruc-
tion of an idol, or the removal of a pillar-stone.
Sometimes he contented himself with inscribing'
upon such stones the sacred names or symbols of
Christianity. The very festivals of the Irish were
respected, and converted into Christian solemni-
ties or holidays. The Beltine and the Sambain
of our Pagan forefathers are still observed in the
popular sports of May-day and All-hallow-c*en.
* Nothing is clearer,' says Dr. O 'Donovan*, * than
that Patrick engrafted Christianity on the Pagan
superstitions with so much skill that he won the
people over to the Christian religion before they
understood the exact difference between the two
systems of belief ; and much of this half Pagan,
half Christian religion will be found not only in
the Irish stories of the middle ages, but in the
superstitions of the peasantry to the present
day.'

^ Inscribing. A curious instance Patrick inscribed the name of Christ

of this is recorded in the Tripar- in three different languages : on one

tite Life (ii. c. 52). He was in the lESUS, on another sotbr, 00 the

Co. of Galway,near Lough Hacket, third salvator. See O^Flakeityi

and there he found three pillar- Ogyg, p. 374.
stones, < qux gentilitas ibi in memo- ^ Dr, ^Dotn^um, Pour Ma*-

riam aliquorum facinorum vel gen- ters, A.D. 43X, note % p. 131 ; and

tilitium rituum posuit/ On these see abore, p. laS.

eHAP.iii.] St. Patricias Success overrated. 501

But the extent of St. Patrick's success, as well The
as the rapidity of his conquests, has been greatly Patrick
overrated by our popular historians. * While, in **
other countries,' says Mr. Moore^, ' the introduc-
tion of Christianity has been the slow work of
time, has .been resisted by either government or
people, and seldom effected without a lavish
effusion of blood ; in Ireland, on the contrary, by
the influence of one humble but zealous mis-
sionary, and with little previous preparation of
the soil by other hands, Christianity burst forth,
at the first ray of apostolic light, and with the
sudden ripeness of a northern summer, at once
covered the whole land. Kings and princes,
when not themselves among the ranks of the
converted, saw their sons and daughters joining
in the train without a murmur. Chiefs, at
variance in all else, agreed in meeting beneath
the Christian banner ; and the proud Druid and
Bard laid their superstitions meekly at the foot
of the cross ; nor, by a singular disposition of -
Providence, unexampled indeed in the whole his-
tory of the Church, was there a single drop of
blood shed, on account of religion, through the
entire course of this mild Christian revolution,
by which, in the space of a few years, all Ireland
was brought tranquilly under the influence of
the Gospel/

Unhappily, a deeper insight into the facts of

^ Mr. Moore. History of Ireland, que nulle autre natioo dans toute la

i. p. 203, and see also the Abbe chr^tiennet6 ne recut les nouvelles

MucGeoghegan, Hist, (Tlrlandey i. du royaume de Diea, et la fbi de

p. 262. * On peut dire avec v6rit^, Jesu« Christ, avcc tant de joie.'

502 opposition to St. Patrick. [cbaf.qi.

His mittion Irish historv effaces much of this pleasing; picture.

not without . •' 11-

danger to It IS uot tfuc that HO blood was shed. It is not
hu foi. true that all Ireland was brought tranquilly under
^"^"^ the influence of the Gospel. St. Patrick's life was
often attempted, and often in danger. On one
occasion his charioteer was slain in mistake for
himself. When going into Connaught, he took
the precaution of providing himself with an
escort, and narrowly escaped the efforts of the
Druids to destroy him. His ecclesiastical estab-
lishments were surrounded by fortifications^, for
the protection of the inmates ; and many of the
most celebrated of them, as Armagh, Cashel,
Downpatrick, Clogher, and others, were built in
situations possessing natural advantages for de-
fence, or near the already fortified habitations of
Manytribci thc auticut chicftaius. There were many dis-

rejected hi* , , •

teaching, tricts and tribes of Ireland where the teaching of
St. Patrick was rejected.^ The Hi Garchon arc
particularly mentioned as having resisted both
Palladius and Patrick ; and the biographers of
the saint would, no doubt, have recorded many
similar instances, had it been their object to
chronicle the failures instead of the triumphs of
their hero. The catalogue* of the three orden

^ Fortifications. See above, p. milites Hibernue quod octiohibciit
478. paruchiam Patricii, qpSik tubitnir-

^ Rejected. Tirechan speaks of runt ab eo quod ipnus cnl ; 1

many chieftains of Ireland in his que quoniam si (^weicrct hem Pa*

time (the middle of the seventh tricii panichiam tUiut, pdett pene

century), who refused to submit to totam insolam stbi reddere in pan-

the jurisdiction of Armagh, lest the chiam quam Deus dedit iUi.* Bmk

whole island should become subject of Armagky fol. ii, aM.

to the successors of St. Patrick: 'quia ' Catakgtii, Sec mbovc, iDtroil.

video dissertores, et archiclocos et sect. 41, sq.

CHAP. III.] Ecclesiastical Clanship. 503

of Irish saints, and many passages in the Book of
Armagh, afford undoubted proofs that all Ireland
did not submit to Patrick^s influence ; and the
partial apostacy which took place during the two
centuries following his death, is a convincing
evidence that the Christianity he had planted
did not strike its roots as deeply as has been popu-
larly supposed. An adhesion to Christianity,
which was in a great measure only the attach-
ment of a clan to its chieftain, and in which
Pagan usages, under a Christian name, were of
necessity tolerated, could not, in the nature of
things, be very lasting.

Many of the foundations of St. Patrick appear Eccicdat-
to have had the effect of counteracting this evil, Slip in the
by creating a sort of spiritual clanship, well cal- fo^atiow.
culated to attract a clannish people, and capable
of maintaining itself against the power of the
secular chieftains. But this was perhaps an acci-
dental result only : it was certainly not the primary
design of these institutions. St. Patrick had a
much higher object in view. He seenis to have
been deeply imbued with faith in the interces-
sory powers of the Church. He established
throughout the land temples and oratories for the
perpetual worship of God. He founded societies
of priests and bishops, whose first duty it was
' to make constant supplications, prayers, inter-
cessions, and giving of thanks for all men, for
kings and for all that are in authority;' per-
suaded, in accordance with the true spirit of
anticnt Christianity, that the intercessions of

504 Peculiarities of the Societies [chap. m.

the faithful, in their daily sacrifice of praise
and thanksgiving, were efficacious, as St. Paul's
words imply, for the salvation of mankind, and
for bringing to the knowledge of the truth those
upon whom appeals to reason, and arguments
addressed to the intellect, would have been pro-
bably a waste of words.
Tjje. The reliffious societies thus established did not

•ociedes always exclude from their benefits the weaker

founded by

St. Patrick sex, and were not, perhaps, in the modem sense
exclude of thc word, strictly speaking, monasteries. At
women. Armagh it is recorded^ that a sister or relative of
St. Patrick, called by some authorities Lrupait,
with Ercnat, daughter of the chieftain Daire,
and Cruimtheris, daughter of a king of Britain,
were appointed to discharge the duty of making,
washing, and repairing the sacred vestments* of
the Church. Besides these, there were seven
daughters of ' a king of the Lombards,' in con-
nection with the society, and others, perhaps,
whose names the biographers have not preserved.
The lands The lands given by the piety of St. Patrick's
ti^"foundI- converts, for the foundation of these establish-
churctes Hicuts, oftcu couvcycd the rights of chieftainship^
vcTd uTe ^^^ ^^ secured the allegiance of the clan. When
rights of this was the case, many of the causes obstructive

chieftain- ...

ship. to Christianity were removed, and thc people
were with less difficulty weaned from their

» Recorded. See Fit Trip.^ iii. c. list of St. Patrick's household, is his

yi — 76. drmnechay or embroiderers \ F$Mr

' Vestments. Colgan, Actt, SS, in Mast, a.d. 448, p. 139.
Vit. S. Ergnatity p. 41. These three ^ ChUftaimkip, See above, ZrtrW.

lad its are mentioned in the poetical p. 152, z^.

CHAP. III.] estahlisbed by St. Patrick. 505

antient superstitions, and brought the more fully
under the influence of the Gospel. But in some
places the lay succession continued, and in time
swallowed up^ or became identified with the ^^^.^^
ecclesiastical authority. '^In every case, however,
it is evident that the spirit of clanship^ was
engrafted upon the institutions of the Church.
This, in the earlier ages of Christianity in
Ireland, tended to protect the monastic societies
from outrage and plunder, as well as to spread cautes of
their influence amongst the people. This was ^n"^""
also the real cause of the great extension® of the ^^^^
monastic life in Ireland. The state of society ^^'^^

life m

rendered it practically impossible to maintain the Ireland.
Christian life, except under some monastic rule.
The will of the chieftain was law. The clansman
was liable at any time to be called upon to serve
upon some wild foray, in a quarrel or feud with
which he had personally no concern. The do-
mestic ties were unknown, or little respected.
No man could call his life or property, his wife or
children, his own ; and yet, such is the inconsist-
ency of human nature, the people clung to their
chieftains and to their clan with a fidelity and an
afi'cction which continue to the present day.
Hence the spirit of clanship readily transferred it-
self to the monastery. The abbat was sometimes
also chieftain, or a near relative of the chieftain,

^ Sivallo^ed up. See a valuable said on this subject, Introd. j. %%S^

paper by Dr. Reeves, in the Pro- • Extension. * L^Irtehde a vu

tcedings of the Royal Irish Aca- presq* aussi-tot des moines que dcs

demy, vol. vi. p. 447. Chretiens.' MacGeoghegan^ Hist.

2 Clanship. See what has been d'lrlande^ i. p. 275.

5o6 Natives made Bishops. [chaf. m.

and the welfare or progress of the monastic society
was identified with the prosperity of the clan. ^
Natives of St. Patrick seems, in a large majority of in-
made prietu stances, to have placed natives of the country as
by St. °^' priests and bishops over the ecclesiastical or
monastic societies which were founded by him.
This may, at first sight, seem difficult to under-
stand. It is not possible (miracle apart) that a
lawless chieftain, baptised in adult life, could
be at once converted into a devoted priest or a
saintly bishop, without any previous preparation
or instruction. But it is a prominent feature in
St. Patrick's history, that he was at all times
accompanied by a body of men under training
for the priesthood. The biographers, it is true,
sometimes represent him as ordaining a con-
vert, or even consecrating him a bishop, imme-
diately after his baptism ; but we are not to
interpret such statements too literally. Some time
must be understood to have intervened between
the baptism of an Irish convert and his ordination.
A machinery for his education is spoken of as at
hand. The churches and ecclesiastical or colle-
giate bodies established by St. Patrick throughout
the country, must have had considerable educa-
tional influences. Every such society, as it was
formed, became a school for the education of the
clergy. The daily offices of devotion trained
the inmates to the correct observance of the
ritual of the Church, and prepared them to be-
come the heads, as priests or bishops, of similar
establishments.

CHAP. III.] The Ahgitorta. 507

It is recorded also that Patrick, on several The

, ' , 7 • • 1 1 • Abgitoria

occasions, taught the abgttortum y that is to say, written by
the alphabet, to such of his converts as were
destined for holy orders ; this is sometimes
expressed by saying that he wrote for them * the
elements,' scripsit elementa — by which phrase the
alphabet seems also to have been intended.
But it may be said, we are not compelled to
understand the instruction ^o designated as
confined to the mere alphabet in the literal
sense of the word. To teach letters is a phrase
which is still in use, to denote education gene-
rally. The elements of learning may have been
included, when we read that Patrick taught
the alphabet ; and so the biographers seem to
have understood the words. The Tripartite
Life, following the Book of Armagh, tells us,
that when St. Patrick was in Ciarraidhe-Locha-
nArnedha, now the barony of Costello, county
of Mayo, he found Ernasc and his son Loam
sitting under a tree : —

'with whom he remained, together with his twelve com-
panions, for a week, and they received from him the doctrine
of salvation with attentive ear and mind. In the meanwhile he
instructed Loarn, for whom he wrote the alphabet, in the rudi-
ments of learning and piety.* ^

This Loarn, or Locharnach, as he is called in
the Book of Armagh, was afterwards made abbat

^ Ahgitorium. This word is a cor- ' PUty, * Loaraum intcrea, cui et

ruption of Abecedarium, in Irish alphabetum scripsit, in litterarum ct

Aihgitir, 01 more correctly Abcitir, pietatis instruendo rudimentis." Fit,

the ABC, or alphabet. See Du Trip, ii. c. 57. 'Scripsit illi cli-

Cange, in vv. Abgatorium and Abe- mcnta,' B, of Armagh^ fol. 13, aJf.
torium.

5o8

Preparation for Holy Orders. [chap. m.

The

Abgitoria

of a church which Patrick founded in that place.
He was, therefore, evidently designed for the
ecclesiastical life when St. Patrick taught him the
alphabet with the rudiments of learning.

And we may remark, that in every case where
always mcutiou is madc of Patrick having written ahgi-
preparation toTtay OX alphabets, for his converts, it is clearly
ordci^^ implied that this was done as a preparation for
holy orders. Thus Tirechan, in the JBook of
Armagh, prefaces his list of the clergy ordained
by St. Patrick, in the following words. Having
mentioned that Patrick had consecrated three
hundred and fifty bishops in Ireland, he adds:^ —

^of presbyters we cannot count the number, because he
used to baptise men daily, and to read letters and ahgatorist with
them, and of some he made bishops and presbyters, because
they had received baptism in mature age.'

In another place, the same author records the
consecration of Senach as bishop at Achad-Fobh-
air*^, and tells us that Patrick wrote for his son
Oengus an abgltorium, on the day on which his
father Senach was ordained.^

The only other place in which the abgitorium

• Adds. * Dc praespitcris non possl-
mus ordinare, quia babtitzavit coti-
die homines et illis litteras legebat et
abgatorias, et de aliis episcopos ac
presbyteros faciebat quia in etate
baptismum accipcrunt sobria/ Book
of Armagh ^ fol. 9, b.a,

• Achad'Fohhair, Now Agha-
gowcr, Co. of Mayo. See O 'Do-
novan, Hy Tiachrach^ p. 150, 151.

• Ordained, * Cui scripsit Patri-
cius abgitorium in die qua ordina-
tus erat Senachus.' Book of Armagh^
fol. 13, hM, * Qucm S. Patricius

alphabcto prxscriptolittenutmi fund-
amenta c€Epit docere, codem die quo
ipse S. Senachus episcopus ordinatiis
est.' Vit, Trip, ii. c 7%, It b cari-
ous that NeimiiiSy c. 60, reprcacnt*
Patrick to have written 365 abgho-
ria, or ahietoria, as most copies read}
and to have consecrated abo 365
churches and 365 bishops. It wiU
bt remembered that the ceremooTof
writing the Greek and Roman al-
phabets on the floor was one of the
ancient rites u«cd in the t
of churches.

CHAP. III.] Ahgitorta mistaken for Swords. 509

is mentioned, is a passage, which is somewhat
obscure, but its obscurity does not affect our
present argument. St. Patrick was somewhere
near the banks of the river Erne, between the
cataract of Easroe and the sea. He had there
baptised a man and his infant son ; and wrote for
him, that is for the father, an abgitorium, and
blessed him with the blessing of a bishop.^

Another curious passage renders it probable The
that the word abgitorium, although evidently a muSS^n
corrupt form of abecedarium, and in its primary *"•""***
sense an alphabet, may have ultimately come to
signify not an alphabet properly so called, but a
waxed tablet prepared for writing, such as was
used by the antient schoolmasters for teaching
their scholars the elements of learning. St.
Patrick, with eight or nine companions, * having
tablets in their hands, written after the manner of
Moses,' ^ was seen by the pagan inhabitants of the
country, who mistook the tablets for swords.

* Bishop. * £t scripsit illi ab^to- [Patricium], cum viris vui. aut is.

rium et benedixit eum benedictione cum tabulis in manibus scriptis

episcopi.* Book of Armagh^ fol. 15, more Moysaico, exclamaverunt gcn-

a.b. There are three passa^s (be- tiles super illos ut sanctot occiderent,

sides that quoted p. 507 ff.J in the et dixenint gladios in manibus habent

Book of Armagh in which the ad occidendos homines, videntur

phrase ' el ementa scripsit * is employ- lienei in die apud illos, sed ferreos

ed, in connection with preparation gUdios aestimamus ad efRmdendum

for holy orders $ < et alteram eccle- sanguinem.* Book of Armagh^ fol.

siam Immruig Thiunthe [fundayit], 9, a.a. The Tablets were Aere-

et scripsit elimenta Cerpano,* fol. fore long and narrow. It seems

lOy bM. * £t elegit unum filium difficult to suppose that tablets in-

ex ipsis cui nomen crat Mace £rc«, tended for wnting should have been

ft scripsit elementa et benedixit really mbtaken for swords; but

eum benedictione patris.* Fol. 14, there must have been some remote

b.b. ' Et benedixit filium, qui est resemblance to the short swords of

Mace Rime episcopus, et scripse- the antient Irish, to render the pre-

runt elementa illi, &c.* Foi. 1$, a a, tended mistake plausible.

^ Of Moses, * Et viderunt ilium

5IO The Irish bad an Alphabet [chaf. m.

exclaiming that although seemingly of ivood,
they were really of iron, and were intended to
shed blood. Such a mistake could only have
been a pretence to excuse an intended outrage ;
but ^a merciful man/ vir misericors, who was
amongst them, named Hercaith, opposed the
violent designs of the mob. He and his son
Feradach believed, and were baptised. He dedi-
cated his son to Patrick, immolavlt JUium Patricio.
Patrick changed the young man's name to
Sachell, or Sacellus, and wrote for him a copy
of the book of Psalms, which the writer who
records this legend says he had seen.^
A know- We cannot give much weight to the argument'
alphl^c that Patrick was the first to bring alphabetic
fim tought characters into the country, and that the Irish
to ^e Irish [jgfQj.g Yi\s time had no knowledge of any sort of
writing, because he is said to have written alpha-
bets for his converts. If this had been so, it is
scarcely possible to doubt that the Irish would
have boasted of having learned letters from St.
Patrick. The vanity of having known the alpha-
bet before his time, would scarcely have been
allowed to deprive him of the glory of having
made known to Ireland the foundation of all
learning, along with the still greater blessings of
the Christian faith. But there does not occur a

' Seen. ' Et scripsit ill! librum decaved. See p. 460, ». iwfrm^ and

Psalmorum, queni vidi/ Book of Petnc^s E&say on the Domhincli-

Armagk^io\.^,a.a. A copy of the aire Id, Trans. Royal Irbh Acad.

Gospels, said to have been brought voL xviii. Antiq. p. 14* JO.

into Ireland by St. Patrick, is still * Argumtmt, See B<^Jaiid. Actt.

preserved in the library of the Royal SS. aJ ly Mori. p. 517.
Irish Academy, although greatly

Patricic

CHAP. III.] before St. Patrick. 511

single hint in Irish tradition to shew that the
knowledge of the alphabet was believed to have
been communicated by St. Patrick.

It has been suggested, indeed, by some writers^
that as the Irish had a peculiar alphabet of their
own, the abgitorium or alphabet made known to
them by St. Patrick was the Roman alphabet.
But this is founded on a mistake. The alphabet
now called the Irish alphabet, and supposed to
be peculiar to the Irish language, is nothing
more than the Roman alphabet, which was used
over all Europe in the fifth and some following
centuries. The probability, therefore, is, that the
Roman alphabet, if not taught by St. Patrick,
certainly became known in Ireland about his
time ; but it does not follow that the Irish were
ignorant of written characters before that period.
The older alphabet, perhaps, was known only to
the bards or Druids, and • communicated to the
initiated alone. But it is certain that the Gauls,
or at least the Druids of Gaul, even in Caesar's
time", had written characters ; and antient
Gaulish inscriptions, long anterior to the fifth
century, are extant. There is nothing unreason-
able, therefore, in supposing that the Irish Druids,
who from very early times had a close connection

^ JVr'tters. See Harris's Ware^ An- ingi of the R. L Acad, vol. iv.

tiq. p. 25. MacGeoghegan, Hist, pp. 177, 361.

itlrlandey i. pp. 28, 29. It is now * Casar^t time. ' Itaoue nonnuUi

well ascertained that the Ogham [Druides] annos vicenos in disciplina

characters are later than the times of permanent, neque fas esse existimant

St. Patrick, and derived most pro- ea literis mandare, cum in reliquis

bably from the Scandinavian Runes. fere rebus, publicis privatisque rati-

Scc Dr. Graves's papers Proceed- onibus, enecis litcris utantur." De

Beiio Gall, lib. vi. c. 14.

5 1 Z Pagan Literature of Ireland. [chaf. m.

with their brethren of Gaul^ may have also had
the art of writing. St. Patrick is said to have
burnt the idolatrous books^ of the Irish Druids,
preparatory to his reformation of the pagan laws.
This story is probably a fable ; but it proves the
tradition or belief of the people that there w^as a
written literature, and an alphabet in pagan
times. The truth may lie, as it often does, be-
tween two extremes. St. Patrick most probably
introduced what was then the alphabet of the
rest of Europe, which has since, by a strange
reverse of fortune, become peculiar to Ireland;
he taught it, without reserve, to those whom he
destined for holy orders, and encouraged them
to make it known to others. It was the alphabet
in which he taught them to write copies of
the Holy Scriptures, as well as Missals, and
other sacred books, required for the service of
the church. The art of writing was no longer
an occult piece of learning confined to a par-
ticular class. It became known with the Roman
alphabet^ to the Christian converts of St. Patrick,

^ Gaul, Tacitus tells us that in as old as the sixth or seventh ccn-

the century before Christ the sea- tury. On the front of the stone is

ports of Ireland were well known to a cross, within two concentric dr-

commercial men. * Aditus portus- cles, about one half of which is

que per commercia et negociatores lost, owing to the upper put of the

coeniti/ Agricola. c. 24. stone having been oroken. Under

^ Books, See Petrie, 7ara, p. 81. this is an ornamental procemmal

' Alphabet, There is a curious cross, the shaft of which extends

specimen of an Abgitorium carved the whole lenfl;th of the stone. Oa

on a pillar-stone in the cemetery of the left hanci side, are the letters,

Kilmalkedar, County of Kerry. DNi, which with the cross were no

Dr. Petrie has given an accurate doubt intended to be read, * Crux

representation of it in a woodcut, Domini.* Over and around these

Round To'wcrSy p. 133. From the letters, in smaller but coeval chinc-

antiquity of the characters it is pro- ters, is the Roman alphabet, wanting

bable that this inscription may be A, owing to the tracture of the

CHAP, m.] Christianity national in Ireland. 513

and the alphabet, which had been before that
time peculiar to the Druids, and was probably
of Greek origin, became extinct.

To pursue this subject, however, would be a Pagan
inconsistent with the purpose of the present frciandr"*
work. That a pagan literature existed in Patrick.''
Ireland before the coming of St. Patrick, and
that some of that literature^ is still preserved, is
highly probable. Several fragments of very high
antiquity, and having internal evidence of a pagan
origin, are to be found among the remains of
the Brehon laws. But we are now concerned
only with the fact that St. Patrick appears to
have taught letters and alphabets, whatever that
may imply, with the express purpose of preparing
his converts for holy orders. The priests and
bishops to whom he left the important duty of
continuing his work, were in almost every in-
stance, as we have already observed, natives of
Ireland ; and the monastic or collegiate churches
established by him were founded with the double
object of providing ecclesiastical education, and
of keeping up in the Church the perpetual sup-
plications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of
thanks, which the apostle commanded as a duty,
the 'first of all.''

Hence it was that in Ireland Christianity be- chrifdanity

natioiial in

stone just mentioned. The alphabet, written on a cake. Reeves, Adamn, ^^^^^^^

including K and Q, is given as for p. 359, note /.
as U, after which are some marks * Literature. See Petrie, on Tkrtf,

not very legible, and probably in- p. 38, sq. O'Flaherty, O^^ygia^ iii.

jured, which may have been origi- c. 30, p. 214.
nally X, Y, Z. The Irish Life of » First of all. i Tim. ii. i.

St. Columba represents him as IlapacaXw ovv vp&rov itavria^,
having had an Abgitir, or alphabet,

L L

514 Character of St. Patrick [chaf. iu.

came at once a national institution. It 'was not
looked upon as coming from foreigners, or as
representing the manners and civilisation of a
foreign nation. Its priests and bishops, the suc-
cessors of St. Patrick in his missionary labours,
were many of them descendants of the antient
kings and chieftains so venerated by a clannish
people. The surrounding chieftains and men in
authority, who still kept aloof in paganism, ivere
softened by degrees, when they perceived that in
all the assemblies of the Christian Church fer-
vent prayers were offered to God for them. In
this point of view the public incense of prayer
and * lifting up of hands * of the Church in a
heathen land, is perhaps the most important
engine of missionary success. * Nothing,* says
St. Chrysostom^ * is so apt to draw men under
teaching as to love, and to be loved,* to be prayed
for in the spirit of love.
Missionary '''' On thc wholc, thc biographcrs of St. Patrick,
St. Patrick, notwithstanding the admixture of much fable,
have undoubtedly pourtrayed in his character thc
features of a great and judicious missionar}'.
He seems to have made himself * all things,' in
accordance with the apostolic injunction, to thc
rude and barbarous tribes of Ireland. He dealt
tenderly with their usages and prejudices. Al-
though he sometimes felt it necessary to over-
turn their idols, and on some occasions risked
his life, he was guilty of no offensive or
unnecessary iconoclasm. A native himself of

' St. Chrysostom. Horn. VI. in i Tim. to ^c7y roi 4kX«io0bi.

CHAP. Ill] as a Christ ia7i Missionary. 515

another country, he adopted the language of the
Irish tribes, and conformed to their political
institutions. By his judicious management, the
Christianity which he founded became self-
supporting. It was endowed by the chieftains
without any foreign aid. It was supplied with
priests and prelates by the people themselves;
and its fruits were soon seen in that wonderful
stream of zealous missionaries, the glory of the
Irish Church, who went forth in the sixth and
seventh centuries, to evangelize the barbarians of
central Europe. In a word, the example and
success of St. Patrick have bequeathed to us
this lesson, that the great object of the mis-
sionary bishop should be to establish among the
heathen the true and unceasing worship of
God's Church, and to supply that Church with
a native ministry. ^

L L 2

f

I
i i

- i

• }

INDEX

ABBATES laici of Ireland and
•^ Wales, 155 ».
Abel, Abbat and Bishop of Laubes,

a Scot by race, 59
Aberdeen, Breviary of, 299

— its lessons for St. Palladiiis at vari-
ance with its Calendar, 300

Abernethy, antient Bishopric of, trans-
ferred to St. Andrews, 44 ».

Abgitoria or Alphabets, meaning of
the word, 507

— taught by St. Patrick to candidates
for the ecclesiastical life, 508

— may signify tablets for writing, 509

— Patrick wrote 365 alphabets ac-
cording to Nennius, 508 n,

— mistaken for swords, 509

— specimen of, carved on stone,
512 «.

— written on a cake for St. Columba,
5i3».

Achad Fobhair, now Aghagower, co.

of Mayo, 508 «.
Achad Farcha, 435
Adamnan, Life of Columba, quoted,

6, 7, 118, See Columba.

— his Cairiy or tribute, 405 Ji.
Adelfius, probably Bishop of Caer-

leon on Usk, 268

Adrian I. See Hadrian.

Adrian IV. claims ownership of Ire-
land and confers it on Henry II.,
48 tt. ; his Bull, 231

Aedh, Bishop of Sletty, 401

Acdh Dubh, his ordination and his-
tory, 8, 9

Aedh the Great, and Aedh the Less,
brothers, 154

Aedh, son of Ainmire, King of Ire-
land, 133

— measures proposed by him to Con-
vention of Drumceatt, 1 34 n.

— a party in his court hostile to the
clergy, 137

Aedh, son of Eochaidh Doimhlen, sur-
named Colla Meann, 471

— slain, 472

Aedh (St.), sumamed Mac Carthenn.
See Mac Carthenn

Aedh, mac Brie, 463

Aengus, son of Natfraich, King of
Monster, his conversion, 129 ; bap-
tised, 467, 498

— accident at the baptism, 468

— slain, 467 ».

Agapetus I. (Pope), only a Deacon
when consecrated Bishop, 87

Aghagower. See Achad Fobhair

A^rricola, son of Bishop Severianus,
mtroduced Pelagianism into Bri-
tain, 27 z

Ailbe (St.), of Emly, his history, S03

— etymology of his name, 204

— met St. Declan at Rome, ib,

— his tutor Hilary, not Pope Hilary,
ib.

— followed to Rome by fifty Irishmen,
205

— converted the JUU GoUl^ ib.

— not a native of Dalaradia, 206

— visits St. Deelan, 211

— date of his death, 206, 211

— constituted Metropolitan of Mon-
ster, 218

— Irish stanza on, 219
Ailbe, Presbyter, 222

— date of his death, 225 ir.
Ailcluaid, 267, 356

Aileran (St.), author of a Life of St.
Patrick, 206

Aillil, son of Dunlaing, baptised, 465

Aill mic Cuirr, 404 n.

Aillinn, daughter of Aengos Mac Nat-
fraich, 434

Airbhe, meaning of the word, Z19 »•

Airchinneach, 160

— etymology of the word, 162
Airer Gaedhil, now Argyle, 267

5i8

bidex.

Airer Gaedhil, Bede's description of,
267

Airthear. See Oirthear

Albigenses, their doctrine of the en-
dura y 463

Alcluith, 267

Alphabet, not first taught to the Irish
by St. Patrick, 510

— known to the Druids of Gaul in
Caesar's time, 5 1 1

— probably to the Irish Druids, 5 1 2

— the present Irish alphabet identical
with the Roman, 511

— probably taught by St. Patrick, tb.
Altimachae. See Ardd-Macha
Amalgaidh, or Amolngaid, 442 «.

— his sons, 443 ».

Amand (St.), biographer of St. Boni-
face, 47

Amator or Amatorex, Bishop of Aux-
crrc, 317, 335

— consecrates St. Patrick, 317, 323,
326

Amhra Coluimcille, 138

— virtues ascribed to, 139
Amolngaid. See Amalgaidh
Anat-cailtrin, 343

Andegarius or Audegarius, Bishop of

St. Martin's at Tours, 57
Andrews (St.), antiently Cill-Righmo-

naigh, 44 ».
Animosus, his Life of St. Brigid, 19 «.
Anna-down (or Enach-Duin), 38
Annals of ecclesiastical events, from

the Book of Lcinster, 183-188

— Irish, dates assigned by them to St.
Patrick's mission and death, 393

Ansclm (St.), his letter to Muircher-

tagh O'Brien, i, 2
Antioch, Council of (a.d. 341), 45
Aonach, meaning of the word, 439 n.
Aonach-Tailltenn,nowTelltown,343,

439
Aondruim, or Nendrum, 412 n.
Apostles,Twelve,of Ireland, 99^., 147

— why so called, 147, 148

— their influence as a body, 149

— sent for to avert the curse on ban-
quet of Dun-na-n^edh, 148

Aquino, Bishop ot, subject to the

Abbat of Cassino, 67
Aras, a house, 257 «., 258 n.
Ai'as-Celtchair, 492 n.
Archbishop, meaning of the term in

anricnt Irish rccortls, 14-19
Arcuil, now valley of the Braid, 374

Ard-comarb, 157

Ardd-machse, antient name of Ar-
magh, 475

— signification of the word, 475 *.

— Ussher's mistake as to, tb. See
Armagh

Ardmor, co. of Watcrford, 21 1
Ard-na-gcaorach, 211
Ard-patrick, a hill near Louth, 469 «.
Aregal (oraculum), an oratory, 477,

478
Argyle, signification of name, 267
Aries, Synod of, 268
Armagh, date of its fbundatum, 468,

469

— legend of, 472 sq,

— jurisdiction of, not universally re-
ceived, 502

— See Druim Sedleck ; Ardd-muuk^
Armagh, Book of, history of founda-
tion of Trim, from, 257

— called Canon of Patrick, 4S5 ».
Amon (Mount), 323, 337
Asciciput, an error, 41 1 «.
Asterius, T. RuRis, collected the

works of Sedulius, 196
Athanasius (St.), only a deacon when

consecrated bishop, 87
Ath-dara, a ford on the Barrow, 437
Ath-Truim, foundation of, 149, 1 50if .
Atomriug, meaningof the word, 426 «.
Attigrni, Synod of, 68 m,
Augustine (St.), speaks with res^icct

ot Pelagiusand Ccelestius, 192
Augustinus, companion of Palladius

280, 301, 324, 326
Autbert, Bishop of Avranches, 337
Auxilius, ordained with St. Patrick,

3i7» 33*1486

D AAL, the Phoenician god, un-
known to the Irish, 414*.
Baptism of great numbere by St.
Patrick, 449

— festival of St. Patrick's, 450
Bards, favoured by the clergy, 1 30

— their influence against Christianity,

»3»

— attempts to suppress the ofder,
132/7.

— reformation of the order at the
convention of Dnunceatt, 135, 136

Barses, a bishop, 45, 46
Bcatus, Biat, or Bie, first bishop of
Lausanne, 193

Index.

5^9

Bede (St.), his testimony of the sub-
jection of bishops to the abbat in
Hi, lo n.

Beg-Eri, now Begcry or Begrin Is-
land, XI 6 ft.

Belle-isle in Lough Erne, its antient
name, 470 n.

Beltaine, or Beltine, festival of, 1 34 » .

when celebrated, 414

still observed, 500

meaning of the name, 414 n,

Benedict (St.), his rule recognises the
monastic bishop, 69

Bened ictus, companion of Palladius,
280, 301, 324, 326

Benin, Benen, or Benignus of Ar-
magh, 130, 412 n,

Bernard (St.), his complaint of irregu-
larities in the Church of Ireland,

»> 3

— his Life of St. Malachy, 155 ».
Berraidhe, chieftain of Oifaly, 464

— his descent, ib. n.
Betham, Sir W., 309

Biat (St.) or Bie. See Beatus
Binn Gulban, or Binn Bulbin, 440 n.
Bjshops, deference paid to in the
Columban monasteries, 6-10

— subject to the abbat in Columban
abbeys, 7 sq.

— subject to the abbess in Kildare,

i3» »4

— multiplication of in Ireland, 27

— independent in Ireland, 27

— number consecrated by St. Patrick,
28

— living together with Mochta of
Louth, 31

— seven living together, 32 j mean-
ing of the institution, 35

— seven, of Cluain-emain, or Clo-
novvn, 34, 35

— 141 groups of seven bishops, men-
tioned by Aengus, 32, 35

— bishops of the Clans, 38

— ronciliar laws against Scotic
bishops, 40 sq.

— e}>iscopi vagantes, laws relating to,
40 «.

— pseudo bishops pretending to be
Irish, 42 ».

— without sees (fT;^oXa^orr*f), on the
Continent of Europe, 45

— monastic bishop at St. Denis, 51

— at St. Martin's Tours, 56

— at Lobes or Laubes in Belgium, 57

Bishops, monastic, not peculiar to Ire-
land, 48

— bishops in Ireland before St. Pa-
trick, 198 ; origin of the story, 221
the story unknown to Jocelin, 224

Black water, 439

Boethin (St.)^ 298

Boethius (Hector), his description of

the antient episcopal system of

Scotland, 44 n.
Bonaght, whiat, 228
Bonavem Tabemiae, 355, 362
Boind, the river Boyne, 257 »., 259,

368 n,

— inflexions of the word, 257 ».
Bollandists, their date of the death of

St. Patrick, 495

Boniface. See H^iufrid

Books, magical virtues of, 105, 124

Boromean tribute, 437

Boscoi, or grazing monks, had a
bishop of their own, 46

Boulogne-.sur-mer, not the birth-
place of St. Patrick, 358

Braid, valley of, 374

Braighde, or Braid, river, 374

Brechmigh in Ui Dortain, 260

Bregia, or M agh Breeh, 406 »., 420

— St. Patrick founds churches in,
441

Brehon Law Commiflion, 484 n,
Brendan, St., the navigator, 459, 460
Brene, strait of, 406
Brettan. See Brittam
Brig, mother of St. Etchen, her de-
scent from Cathair Mor, 255

— mother of King Aedh son of Ain-
mire, 255

Bright. See Brittan
Brigid (St.), her monastery of Kil-
dare, II

— her choice of a bishop, 1 2

— ordained a bishop by St. Mel,
i3».

— her prophecy of the declension of
faith in Ireland, 108

— her relationship to St. Columba,
Table IV., 252

— her relationship to her first Bishop
Conlaedh, Table. V., 253

Britanniae, 356

Britanny, Armoric, 360

Brittan, or Brettan, now Bright, co.

of Down, 293 »., 459 n,
Broccaide, abbat or Bishop of Im-

leach- Each, 152

S20

Index.

Broccaide, brother of Lomman, 260
Broccan, brother of Lomman, 260
Brogan (St.) his Life of St. Brigid, 23
Brogsech, mother of St. B rigid, 34
Bruce (Edward), alliance of the Irish

with, 240
Buidhe Chonaill, or flava ictericia,

213 n.

QABCENNA, river of, 492, «.,

493-
Cabilonense Concilium, 40 n,
Cadoc, or Cattwg, his original name

Cathmaei, 99
Caelestius, the Scot alluded to by St.

Jerome, 190

— why supposed to be of Irish birth,
192 n.

Gaencomhrac mac Mael-uidhir, 485 ».
Caerleon, upon Usk, 268 «.
Caiman (St.) of Dair-inis, 99
Cain Patraic, or Cain Phadruig, the
law of Patrick, 483, 485 ».

— meaning of the word Gz/xr, 485 n,

— Cain Adamnain, ib,
Cairbre Righfeda, 266

Cairel, son of Eochaidh Doimhlen,

sumamed Colla Uais, 471
Caimech, 483 n.

Cairpri. See Carbri and Cairbre
Cake, alphabet written on, 5 1 3 ».
Calpurnius, father of St. Patrick,

353
* Calvus like Caplit,' a Scotic proverb,

445

Campus Girgin, 296

Campus Taberniae, 357.

Cannech (St.), or Canice, of Kil-
kenny, story of, 116

— his adventure with the oeconomus
of Docus, 168

Canoin, significations of the word,

485 n.
Canoin Phadruigh, not a collection of

Canons, 485 n.
Canon of Patrick, Book of Armagh

so called, 485 n.
Canons, rule for consecration by three

bishops, 79 sq.

— Irish collection of, published by
D'Achery, 97, 143, 144 ; bv Mar-
tene, 145 ; NIS. of them in the Val-
licellian Library, Rome, 145 «.

— attributed to St. Patrick, 484
Caolan. See Mochaoi

Caplit, the Druid, 451

— his conversion to Christianity^ 454,

455
Carbri, or Cairpri, son of Niall of

the nine hostages, 439
Cashel, St. Patrick's visit to, 467 ;

fictitious, 468

— not at first proposed as the Archi-
episcopal See ot Munster, 468

— not of ecclesiastical importance
before the 9th centiiry, 468

— King of, confirmed and crowned
by the successor of Patrick^ 4^8

— Psalter of, 173

Catalogue of the Saints of Ireland^
88 «., 503

— proves that St. Patrick's jurisdic-
tion was resisted, 503

Cathach, the book so cdled, 124

— the battle crozier of St. Grellan,
so called, 125 ».

Cathair mor, King of Ireland, 464 ».
Cathal, abbat of Ferns, 1 66
Cathaldus of Tarentum, an Irishman,
195

— a teacher in the school of Lismore,
196

— belonged to the second order of
saints, ib,

Cathlaid, a pilgrim, 15a, a6i

— orobably not a bishop, 153
Cathmaei, otherwise Cadoc, or

Cattwg, 99
Caubene, river, 493 ».
Cealcythe, Synod of, 41
Ceancroithi, name of an idol, ia8 «.
Cechtumbria (St.), or Cectamaria,

381 ff.
Celestine, Pope, sends Gemuuius to

Britain andPalladius to Ireland, 270
Cellair. See KiU4xre
Cell-fine. See KiU-fine^ 294, 195, 197
Cell-Osnada, battle of, 468 ».
Cenn-airthir, 290 ir.
Cennerbhe, name of an idol, ii8«.
Cenn-Losnado, 468 Ji.
Celtchar or Keltchar, 49a
Cethiac, 443
Cethuberis (St.), 381 ».
Cerpanus, 509 n,

Chalons sur Saone, Council of, 40
Chieftainrv, rights of, transferred to

the Ecclesiastical Lord, 149
Chieftains, first addresed by St. P^

trick, 498

— loyalty of the Irish to, 130

Index.

531

Chieftains, Irish, remonstrance of, to

Pope John XXII., 236 ».
Chorepiscopus, Columba did not seek

this order from St. Etchen, 76

— chorepiscopi, probably only pres-
byters, 76 «.

Christianity in Ireland before St.
Patrick, 189, 211

— proved by the legend of the altar
and glass chalices, 222

— by the mission of Palladius, 225
Chronology of St. Patrick's life, altered

to make way for his Roman mission,

399
Church of Ireland, its missionary
character, 36 sq,

— two Churches in Ireland since the
eleventh century, 231, 241

Churches, East and West, in Patrick's
time 410

— transverse, 410; sinistralis ecclesia,
411 n,

Ciaran, or Kieran (St.), of Saigher,
199/7.

— St. Patrick's prophecy of, 200

— said to have been 30 years in Ire-
land before St. Patrick, 201

— founds Seir-Kieran, ib,

— one of the Twelve Apostles of Ire-
land, 202

— belonged to second order of saints,
202

— said to have been 300 years old, ib,
Ciarraidhe Locha nAmeaha, 507
Cill Achaidh-droma-foda, 345 n,
Cill Dumha-gluinn, or Cill Dumi-

gluinn, now Kil?lin, 260
Ciilcmoinni, nowKHmoone, co.Meath,

170 n.
Cill Finnabrach (now Kilfenora), 38
Cill-mhic-Duach (now Killinac-

duagh), 38
Cill-Righmonaigh, antient name of

St. Andrews, 44 «.
Cillin or Killin, chieftain of the Hy

Garrchu, 466
Cinel Laoghaire, two districts inha-
bited by, 262
Cinne (St.), 381 n.
Clann, meaning of the word, 157
Clanna Rudhraighe, or Clanna Rury,

406 n.
Clanship, spirit of, pervaded the Church

of Ireland, 226

— key to Irish History, 227

— abolition of, under James I., ib.

Clanship, evil consequences of its
abolidon, 228 sq.

— ecclesiastical, 503
Claudian, quoted, 283

Clebach, a well at Crochan, 451,

Clogher, meaning of the name, 129,

130^.
-~ its idol stone, Cermand Celstach,

129

— date of foundation of, 46711., 499 n,
Cloin Lagen, the plain of Leinster,

i5i>»59
Clon Bronaigh, Nunnery of, near

Granard, 408 n,
Cluain-emain (now Clonown), seven

bishops of, 34
Clugach, meaning of the word, 137 n,
Cnoc-a-tionol, 448 n,
Coarbs of Patrick, antient lists of,

1 72 sq. See Conuarbs
Codraige, one of St. Patrick^s names,

363
Coelfrid, Abbat, his discusNon with

Adamnan on the tonsure, 487

— his letter to Naiton, King of the
Picts, 487 If.

Coinnmeidh, or Coigne. See Cptie
Co«tosus, his Life of St. Brigit \ its

date, 1 1 ff. ; his Irish name, 4o» n,
doUa's, the Three, 471

their real names, ib,

CoUum bovis, 492

Cohnan (St.) of Dromore, his contest

with the bards, 131
Colman, a presbyter, afterwards

Bishop, converted the parents of

St. Declan, 208

— probabl)r the same as Colman of
Cloyne, ib.

Colony, Scotic, or Gaedhelic, date of,
248

— came from Spain, ib,

Coliunba (St.), or Columkille, de-
ference paid by him to a bishop, 7

his attendants to the synod of

Drumchett, 28

story of his transcript of St.

Finnian's Gospels, 106

— — legend of his ordination, 70
anecdote of his vocal powers,

118
his escape from the Court of

Kin^ Diarmait, 121, 122

his poem on the occasion, t2a

was himself a bard, 1 30

SZ2

bidex.

Coiumba (St.), the Amhra or elegy

on, 138
his family and that of St. Brigid

descended from a common ancestor.

Table IV., 252
his successors claimed right of

visitation in Ossory, 467
Columbanus, established a perpetual

service of praise to God at Luxeuil,

36 n.

— his rule, 166

Comar, meaning of the word, 471 ».
Comarbs,meaningof the word,i 55,156

— held visitations, 158

— battles between, 158. See Coarbs
Comgall, of Bangor, persuaded by the

Saints of Ireland to remain at home,
117 «.
Conaille Muirthemne, 361, 406 n,
Conall (son of Aedh, King of Ire-
land) insults the clergy, 137

— his insanity, ib.

— cursed by St. Coiumba, ib,

— why called Clugach, 137 ».
Conall Cearnach, of the Clanna Ru-

dhraighe, 198 n., ^oSn,

his Pictish wife, 407 n.

Conall mac Neill, surnamed Gulban,

his conversion, 440
Conalnei, 406 «.
Conches, or Conchessa, St. Patrick's

mother, 353
Conchubhair, or Connor, a branch of

the Desi, of Meath, 213
Condlead, or Conlianus, Bishop of

Kildare, 19, 20

— meaning of the name, 20 ; called
also Rondchend, ib, j date of his
death, ib. n,

— legend of his vestments, 22

— his disobedience to Brigid, 24 5 he
was Brigld's artist, 25, 26

— his relationship to St. Brigid, Table

Confession of St. Patrick does not
mention his Roman mi.vsion, 310

editions of, 346 n.

its authenticity, 347 n.

written at the close of Patrick's

life, 3-9

its ronchiding paragraph, 381

its dortrinc, 388

St. Patriik's need in, 388

Its ttstininny Irreconcilable with

the Roman Mission and continental
education of St. Patrick, 386

Confession of St. Patrick, Tillemoiit's
judgment of, 381

date of St. Patrick **$ missioa

deduced from, 392

Armagh copy of, 347 ; appa-
rently abridged, 348 «.

Congbal, a church, 477 ».

Consecration of bishops by a single
bishop, 74'j[-> 77

Constantius, of Lyons, 269

— his Life of St. Germaiiiy 336
Contest for the body of St. Patrick,

49»
Corbe, not a chorepiscopus, 155 m.

See Comarb
Corca-laidhe, district of, coextensive

with the diocese of Ross, 38
Corca-Modruaidh (now Corcomroe),

38

Cormac's Glossary, 483 «.

Coroticus, a chiettain of Glamorgan-
shire, 352

— his genealo^, 35a ».

— his crimes, to,

— St. Patrick's epistle on, 311 —
349> 358* 183; editions of, 311;
makes no mention of Roman miv-
sion, or foreign education, 311; its
date, 384; Tillemont's judgment
of> 385 ; date of St. Patrick^s mis-
sion, deduced from, 391

Cosherings, 228

Costello, CO. of Mayo, baronj €A\

507
Coyne, or Coyncy (Coinn-mhiodh or
Coinnmedh), what, 1 34 »., 1 36, aiS

— not derived from the English word
Com, 1 34 n,

Crebrea, 448

Creed, St. Patrick^s, as given in the
Confessiori, 388

— not homoousian, 390

— its antiquity, ib,
Croach-aigli, 447
Crochan, or Cruachan, 451
Crochan Crobderg, wife of Eochaid

Feilioc, 451
Crom-cruach, or Cromdubh, idol
destroyed by St. Patrick, ia8

— not the name of a man, 118 ».
Cromdubh Sunday, 1 28
Crossan, a cross-bearer, 460
Cruachan, now Rath-croghan. Sec

Croc/ian
Cruitheni, or Picts of Dalaradia, 407

— why so called, ib, m.

Index.

5^3

Cualann, territory of, 34.3 ».
Culle, a kitchen, 477, 478
Cuil-dreimhne, battle or, 119
Cuircne, district of, 260 ft.
Cumaine, daughter of Dalbronach, 34
Ciiolenni, 343 »., 403
Cyprian (St.), ordination per saltum
practiiied in his day, 85

■Q'ACHERY, Spiciiegium, 97 /r.

Irish canons published by, ib,
Da-Ferta, 476
Daimhliac Cianain, now Duleek, co.

of Meath, 369 ;i.
Daire, chieftain of Hy Niallan, 472

— gives to St. Patrick the site of
Armagh, 472

— legend of the donation, 472 sq,

— surnamed Dearg, 48 1 if. ; his ge-
nealogy too long, ib.

— his conversion, 478
Dairinne, 38

Dal-araidhe, or Dalaradia, 267 ».,

361 ».
Dal-Buain, tribe of, in Dalaradia,

374
Dalriada, 266 tt.

Dalta, meaning of the word, 177 a.
Danes, their invasion of Ireland, 39
Darerca, sister of St. Patrick, 150 /r.,

354
David, of Menevia, connected with
the second order of saints, 95

— his ceconomus, 167, i68

— his eminence predicted by St.
Patrick, 482

— date of his birth, ib. «.

Davis (Sir John), his description of
the abolition of the clans, 228 «.

Death of St. Patrick, its probable
date, 494, 497

— objections to this date, ib.
Death, voluntary, of St. Oran of Hy,

125

— ot the pupil of St. Fanche, 125,
126 n.

— of the daughters of King Laog-
haire, 126 n.

— further instances of, 456 sq.

— not an esoteric doctrine, 457

— not figurative, 457

— not the doctrine of human sacri-
fice, 461

— not a religious suicide, 462

— moral intent of, 460 sq.

Declan (St.), a contemporary of St.
Ailbe, 206

— his tribe and genealogy, 207

— meets St. Patrick at Rome, 209

— places seven saints in a cell near
Lismore, 210

— fails to convert Aengiis, King of
Ca.shel, ib.

— visits St. David at Menevia, ib.

— settles at Ardmor, 211

— survived St. Ailbc, 212

— St. Ultan his disciple, ib.

— a pupil of St. Moling, 214

— author of his life, date of, 219
Declension of Faith in Ireland, evi-
dences of, 107. St. Brigid's pro-
phecy of, 108

Decurio, office of, 354 w.

Deece, barony of, co. of Meath,

207
Deities of the Pagan Irish, topical,

456
Denis fSt.), abbey of, near Paris, 51
— monastic bishops of, 55 ».
Desi, or Desii, 207
Diarmait, King, encouraged Dniid-

ism, 119 — 122. In ill odour with

the Church, 123
Dichu, chiefbiin of Dalaradia, first

convert of St. Patrick, 344, 407.

His descent, 407
Dimma or Dima, tutor of St. Declan,

208
Dimma Dubh, Bishop of Connor,

209
Dioceses, antiently coextensive with

the seigniories of the clans, 38
Disibod C^t.), or Disen, an Irishman,

life of, 109. An episcopus regio-

narius, no
Dobda, or Dobdagrecus, the Irish

bishop of Virgil of Saltzburgh, 65,

sq. His Irilh name Dubh-da-crioch,

66. UilherN difficulty about, ib, h,
Domhnall, son of Aedh King of

Ireland, blessed by St. Columba,

Dominatrix, used to translate ban-
abb, or abbess, 157
Domnach-airgid, 469 »., 510 n,
Domnach-Arda, or Donmach-Ar-

dacha, 293 »., 294, 295 jsr., 297
Donald, King of Scots, 266
Dorsum salicis. See Dndm SmUch
Driuccriu, chieftain of the Hy Garr-
chon, 465

5^4

bidex.

Druidism of the Irish in the times of

the second order of saints, 1 18 sq.
Druids predict St. Patrick's coming,

410. See Magi
Druim-luchra, 211
Druim Sailech, or Dorsum salicis,

anticnt name of Armagh, 475
Drumchett, St. Columba's attendants

to synod of, 28

— convention of, 133 ; Keating's ac-
count of, 134

— situation of, 133 n.
Drumcliffe, co. of Sligo, 34
Dnim-na-ndniaid, 451 n.

Dubh, river, now Blackwater, 471 ».
Dubhcomar, battle of, 471

— where, 471 n,
Dubh-da-crioch, a common name in

Ireland, 66 n.
Dubhtach Maccu-lugil, or Maccu

Lugair, chief bard, 130, 446. His

conversion, 424
Dublin, an insignificant hamlet in

St. Patrick's time, 466 n.

— Joceline's inconsistency as to, ib,
Duine Suidhe, 452

Duleek. See DaimhliaC'Cianain
Dumha-graidh, altar and glass chalices

of, 222
Dunlaing, King of Leinster, 438

— baptism of his sons, 465

— his feud with the kings of Tara,
438

Dun-da-leth-glaisse, burial-place of
St. Patrick, 492

— an antient fort of the chieftains of
Ulidia, ib,

Dumbarton, 356
Dun-na-ngedh, banquet of, 148

■gADGAR, assumed the title of

King of Scotia in 1098, 41 w.
Easdara, now Ballysadare, 34
Easroe, cataract of, 509
Easter, St. Patrick's first Easter in

Ireland, 412
— not the day of his interview with

King Laoghaire, 413, 418
Eber. See Heber
Ebmoria, or Eboria, in France, 280,

Eborius, Bishop of York, 268
P'cbatius, or Ochmus, 353
Edcssa, monks of, had bishops with-
out sees, 45

Education of St. Patrick on the con-
tinent, not mentioned in the Con-
fession, 311

Eimer, or Eimeria, two daughters of
Milchu so called, 408 u.

El, a name of God, known to the
Irish, 372

Elementa, or alphabetic charaurten,

507

<< Elementa scripsit,** passages where
the phrase occurs in the Book of
Armagh, 507 »., 509 ».

Eleran (St.), 296

Eliach, territory of, now Ely O 'Car-
roll, 203

Elias, St. Patrick's supposed invoca-
tion of,

— festival of, on Mount Canncl
(July 20), 371 «.

— never invoked as a saint, ib,
Eliphius and Eucharius not Irish, 195
Ely O 'Carroll, territory of, %q%
Emania, residence of the kings of

Ulster, destroyed, 47a
Enach-Duin (now Anna-down), 38
Endura, 462
Endeus, or Enna, son of Amolngid,

442. Dedicates his son to Patrick,

444
Enda, or Enna (St.), refused to see
his sister, 92 ir.

— his conversion, 125 n,
England, Irish hatred of, not caused

by relijrious differences, 142
Enon, villula, 355 ».
Eochaidh, son of Crimthann Leith,

464 «.
Eochaidh Dalian, or the Blind, 138

his mother named Forchell, i*.

called Eochaidh Forchaill from

her name, ib.
honoured as a saint, although a

bard, 139
Eochaidh Doimhlen, father of the

three Collas, 471
Eochaidh Finn Fothart, 287
Eochaidh Muighmeadhoin, King of

Ireland, table of kings descended

from, 249
Eochaidh Uladh, 214 ».
Eoghan Beul, King of Connaught,

438 «.
Eoghan, grandson of Muredadi

Meith, 464 H,
Eoghanacht of Magh Girgin, 296 ».
Epiphany, a season for baptism, 48S

Index.

525

Episcopi vagi, or vagantes, 40 n. See

Bishops
Equonimus. See Oeconomus
Ercc mac Dego, Bishop of Slane,

4.22 ; his baptism, 441 sq,

— curses the banquet of Dun-na-
ngeth, 148

Erdathe, the Day of judgment, 438
Erenachs, meaning of the name, 160

— not archdeacons, 1 60

— their duties, 161

— modification of their duties in later
times, 161

— Colgan's account of the ofEce, 163
Ernasc, his conversion, 507

Emin (St.), son of Cresine, of Rath-
noi, 286 ».

Erris, barony of, 442 n.

Etchen (St.), Bishop of Clonfad, or-
dains St. Columba a priest by mis-
take instead of bishop, 71

— did not intend to consecrate Co-
lumba a chorepiscopus, 76

— his diftant relationship to St.
Brigid, Table V., 253

Ethembria (St.), 381 n,

Ethica Terra, or Tir-itha, now Tiree,

8 n.
Ethne, the fair, 451, 452
Eucharius, not Irish, 195
Eulogius, a bishop, 45

pAMILY of a monastery, what, 1 59.
See Muinnter

Fanchea (St.) visits her brother Enna
to persuade him to return to Ire-
land, 117

— her exhortations converted St.
Enna, 126 n.

Fauns found on the site of Armagh
Cathedral, 480

— frequent mention of fauns and
deer in Irish legends, 480 ».

Fecc, see Fiacc
Fedelm, the ruddy, 451, 452
Fedh-Fiadha, 426 n. 431
Fedlimid, or Feidilmidh of Trim, son
of Laogaire, 150, 258 sq.

— his ecclesiastical progenies, 262

— his lay progenies, ib,

Feis of Tara, not the Beltine, 414

celebrated in November, 415

three days before and three

days after Samhain, 416

— meaning of name, ib, n.

Feredach, son of Hercaith, baptised
by St. Patrick, 510

— his named changed to Sachell or
Sacellus, 510

Fergus mor mac Erca, dynasty founded

by him in North Britain, 283
Ferta, or Fcrtae, 455

— meaning of the word, 476 n.
Ferta-fer-Feic, now Slane, 420

— meaning of the name, ib, n,
Fertae-martyrum, given to St. Patrick,

473 ; biuldings erected at, 476 jq,

— its exact site, 478
Fertighis, 166

Fiacc (St.), or Fecc, Bishop of Slctty,
14 jy.

— a bard, disciple of Dubhtach Mac-
cu-lugil, 130, 424

— consecrated Bishop of Slctty, 466

— his relics preserved at Sletty, 424

— his hymn in praise of St. Patrick,
306, 424 u.

— silent on the Roman commission
of St. Patrick^ 313

— records the foreign education and
travels of St. Patrick, 314

Fiacha Araidhe, 361 ».

Fiacha Sraibhtine, King of Ireland,

slain by his nephews, 471
Fiacha Suidhe, son of Feidlimidh

Rechtmar, 207
Fianachtach, ceconomus of Ferns, 166
Filedh, Filedheacht, meaning of the

words, 13411.
Findchan, Abbat of Ardchain in

Tiree, 7
Finn mac Gormain, bp. of Klldare,

180
Finnen or Finnian, two saints of the

name, 98
Finnian (St.) of Cluain Eraird, now

Clonard, 98

— his early education, 99

— prevented by an angel fh>m going
to Rome, 100, loi

— the faith corrupted in Ireland in
his time, loi

— bardic poem to his honour, 140

— his reward to the bard, 140

— his adventure with the oeconomus
of St. David, 168

Finnian (St.), of Maghbile, 102
first brought the Go^ls to

Ireland, 103 sq,
notice of nim in the Felire of

Aengus, 104

526

Index.

Finnian (St.), his copy of the Gospel,
celebrated in Irish legends, 105,

106, 121

adventure of St. Fintan of Dun-

flesk and the Gospel of Finnian,

St. Columkille's transcript of

Finnian's Gospel, 106 ; decision of

King Diarmait on, 121

his wonderful tree, 121 ».

contest with St. Rodan on, ib,

praying contest between him

and St. Columba at the battle of

Cuildruimhne, 120
Fintan (St.), of Dunflesk, anecdote

of, 105
Fire, extinguished at feast of Tara,

420

— ecclesiastical custom of blessing
new fire, ib. ».

Flann Febla, successor of St. Patrick,
his genealogy, 481 ».j too short, i^.

Fochloth or Fochlut, wood of, 313,
332, 442, 447

Foirtchernn, son of Feidilmith, 150,
258 sq.

— his conversion, 258

— refuses the bishopric of Trim, 261
Forannan (St.) Life of, 33

— accompanied St. Columba to
Drumchett, 34

Fordun, Church of, 291

Forgnidhe in the district of the Cuirc-
ne, 260, now Forgney, ib. n.

Forrach, meaning of the word,
448 n.

Forrach meic nAmalgaidh, 448

Fortification of ecclesia>tical estab-
lishments, 502

Fortuatha Laighen, 286

Fotharta of Lcinstcr, 286-287

Fulcuin, his * Gesta abbatum Lobicn-
sium,' 58 n.

Fulrad (St.), charter to him from
Pope Stephen, sanctioning a monas-
tic bishop, 53

QAEDHELIC, or Scotic, colony,

date of, 248
Gamnnradii, 451
Geman, a Christian bard, 140
(Jencalogy of St. Patrick, 353 /r.
Genealogical tables, 249 sq.
Geography, antient, fragments of,
in the Lives of St. Patrick, 335

Germain (St.) of Auxerrc, his first
mission to Britain, 269, 271. Its
success, 274. Accompanied by St.
Patrick, 318.

— his ordination, 319 ».

— commissions St. Patrick^ 316,
328

Gertrude (St.), abbess of Niveiles

her death, 306 n,
Gessen, for Goshen, 419 n.
Gilla-Caemhain, Chronological Poem

by, 396

— O'Conor's Latin version of, ib, m.
Gilla, or Gildas, connected with Se-
cond Order of Saints, 95, 99

— corruption of the faith in Ireland
in his time, 1 1 1

— why called Badonicus, ih, ».

— meaning of the name Giidas or
Gilla, ib,

— summoned by Ainmire, King of
Ireland, to restore the Catholic
faith. III

— his reformation in Ireland, how far
to be credited, 112

— Colgan's and Ussher^s arguments
against its credibility, 113

— not called to Ireland to oppose
Pelagianism, 143

— his legislation in Ireland, 143,
144

Girgin, plain of, 296

Glass, chalices of, 222, 223 »,

Glastonbury, St. Patrick*s connectioo

with, 485 n,
Glencullen, 343 n.
Gleran, son of Cumin, 448
Gondbaum, mother of St. Patrick,

354 ».
Golam- Miles, or Milesius, 04!
Gold ornaments found in Irehnd,

325 ».
Goll, sons of, 205
Gollit, husbaind of Darerca, 150 ».

— father of Lomman, «6o
Gospels, copy of,eiYen by St. Patiick

to St. Mac Carthenn, 469 ». 510 ».

— of St. Finnian, 106
Gratzacham, 474

Graves (Dean), his paper on the Lifit
of St. Patrick, 402 m,

— his papers on Ogham writing,
fii ».

Gregory the Great, his derision as to
consecration by a single bishop. Si

— gave St. Tcman a bell, 30a ».

Index.

527

Grellan (St.,) his Cathachy or battle

crozier, 125 «.
Guasacht, son of Milchu, bishop of

Granard, 408 ».
Gulban, meaning of the name, 440 if.
Gulford, or Wlferd, abbat of St.

Martin's, Tours, 57

■LJ ADRIAN I. (Pope), his charter
to the Abbey of St. Denu, 54

Hallelujah Victory, 275

H seres, the Latin equivalent for
comarby 157

Hardiman (James), his ed. of O'Fla-
herty's West Connaught, 38 ».

his ed. of the Statute of Kil-
kenny, 136 »., 234 n.

Hatred of England by the Irish, not
from religious differences, 242

Heber, or Eber, son of Milesius, 248

— took the southern half of Ireland,
ib.

Helias, Patrick's invocation of, 370

— the true reading Eiiy 371
Henry of Saltrey, 307

Herbert (Hon. A.) his papers called
Palladius restitutuSy 96 n. 309 n.

Hercaith, baptised by St. Patrick,
510

Hereford, Synod of, a.d. 673,49

Herenachs. See Erenachs

Hcribert, Bp. of the Abbey of St.
Denis, anecdote of, 51

Heric of Auxerre, 271 ».

— his Miractda S. Germaniy 318 ff.
Herimon, son of Milesius, 248

— took the northern half of Ireland,
ib.

— division of Ireland between Heber
and Herimon, 248

— almost all the kings of Ireland
descended from Herimon, 248

— exceptions, ib, n.
Hermon, Mount, 325, 331, 337
Hi, no lay succession in, 154

— genealogical Table of Abbats of,
by Dr. Reeves, 1 54 ».

Hiberio, the name given by St. Pa-
trick to Ireland, 358, 362, 367,
377» 380
Hi Garrchon. See Hy Garrchon
Hilary (St.) of Aries, Life of, 223 ».

— his hymn in praise of Christ, 372
HiUk-bert, Bp. of Le Mans, 37a «.

Hildegardis, Abbess, her testimony
to the declension of faith in Ireland,
109

Honorat (St.), island, 336

Honoratus, bishop of Marseilles^
22411.

Honours of St. Patrick, 429

Hy Garrchon, region of, 286, 290,
338

the tribe of, rejected St. Pa-
trick's teaching, 502

Hy Neill, Southern, Table III., 252

Northern, Table II., 250, 251

Hymn. See Fiacc

Hymn of St. Patrick in Irish, 425

supposed occasion of, ib,

translation of, 426

not connected with Tara, 426 n,

translation of, by Mr. W.

Stokes, ib.

poetical translation of, by J. C.

Mangan, 429 ir.

its antiquity and authenticity,

429

internal evidence, 430

never deemed heterodox, 431

Hymn, in Latin, by Sechndl or

Secundinus, in praise of St. Pa-
trick, 430

Hynneon, 218,

TBAR (St.), of the family of Ui
Eachach Uladh, 214

— mentioned in Anmchad^s Life of
St. Brigid, 215

— a disciple of St. Patrick, ib,

— dateot his death, 216

— his contest with St. Patrick, ib,
Iccian Sea, 330 ».

Ulan, son of Dunlaing, baptized,

Imgae, a place in the Cinel Laoghaire

Midhe, co. of Meath, 262
Imleach lubhair, now Emly, 211
Imluich-each, in Ciarrighe-Connacht,

now Emlagh, co. of Mayo, 260 n,
Immruig Thuaithe, church of, 509 n,
Inbher Dea, or mouth of the Vartry
river, 338, 339, 340, 341, 403,

405
Inbher Domnan,now Malahide,405 n,
Inbher n Ainge, month of the Nanny

water, 406
Inbher Colptha, mouth of the Boyne,

412,420

528

Index.

Inchaguile, island in Loch Corrib,

36s
Inis-Boethin, Inis Boheen, or Inis-

boyne, 297
Inis-an-ghoill-craibtighy now Incha^

euile in Loch Corrib, 365
Inis- Patrick, 404
Inneoin-na-nDcsi, 218 ».
Intercessory power of the Church, 503

— recognized by St. Patrick in his
religious foundations, ib.

Interpolations in the history of St.

Patrick, 332, 333
loceline, his Life of St. Kentigern,

77 ».

— his Life of St. Patrick, 129 /r. et
passim

Johnson (John) confounds the an-

tient Scoti with the modem Scotch,

42 ».

John IV.,Pope, when consecrated, 142

John XXII. Pope, Remonstrance of

Irish chieftains to, 236 sq,

— his reply, 240

lona, an erroneous name, 190. See Hi,

lorrus, now Erris, 447

Irchard (St.), disciple of St. Teman,

302 n.
Ire, a name of Ireland, 1x4
Ireland, called Scotia, 41 n,

— ports of, well known to com-
mercial men, in the age of Tacitus,

Irial Glunmor, King of Ulster, 408 ».
Iserninus, 486. Ordained with St.

Patrick, 317, 3 3»
Isidore (St.), College of, at Rome,

360 If.
Judaism, allegation that the Irish

had gone over to, no
Juvavia, antient name of Saltzburg,

60
Jerome (St.) speaks of a corpulent

Scot, 190
larthar Life, 466
Iveagh, baronies of, co. of Down,

2 1 4. Derivation of the name, ib. n.

J^EATINGE (Geoffrey), his his-
tory of Ireland, 133 /r.
Kellistown, 00 of Carlow, battle of,

468 n. Its antient name, ib,
Kcltchar. Sec Celtchar
Kenneth, King of Scotland, 44.

Kenneth transferred the chief bishopric
of the Picts from Abernethy to St.
Andrew *s, 44 jr.

Kentigern (St.), alias St. Mungo, 301.
Consecrated by a single bishop, 77

Kienan (St.) of Duleek, 369 m.

Kieran. See Ciaran

Kildare, meaning of the name, %\ m.

— monastery of, its peculiar con-
stitution, XI sq^.

— first bishop ot, 19 sq.

— bishop ot, in what sense called
archbishop, 16, 17

— confusion in first bishops of, a i

— jurisdiction of abbey of, 18
Kill. SceC/i/.

Killeigh, King^s co., 345 ».

Kill-muinc, or Menevia, afterwards
St. David's, 99

Kill-fine, 291

Kill-fhorclann, 448

Killarc, or Cellair, co. of Westmeath,
463 n,

Kilglin, CO. of Meath, its antient
name, 260 xr.

Kilkenny, statutes of, 233, 239

Killin. httCiUin

Kilfenora (Cill Finnabrach), 38

Kilmalkedar, co. of Kerry, pillar-
stone of, with abgitorium, 51a ».

Kilmacduagh (fee Cill mhic Duach),

39
Kilpatrick, 3<5 ».
Kines of Ireland, list of, from Book

of Leinster, 184

— list of, from a.d. 164 to a.d. 66c,
Table VI., 255

King; (Rev. Robert), his * Primacy
ot Armagh,' 177

— church history of Ireland, 237 ».
Knockmeilidown mountains, antient

name of, 218 n.

L AEGHIS, or Leix, territory of the
tribe of, 466

* Lamia in speculo,' belief in de-
nounced, 488 «.

Land, St. Patrick accepted grants of,
409 n,

Landeric, orLandri, Bishopof Paris, 54

Lanfranc, Abp., his letter to Torioch
O'Brien, 3 n,

Lan^orgund, 290, 300

Lanigan (Dr.), his conjecture as to
St. Patrick's birthplace, 358

Index.

529

Lanigan (Dr.), his opinion of the date
of St. Patrick's death, 495, 496

— explanation of the exclusion of
women by second order of saints,

91

— on St. David, Gildas, and Docus,

95

— his remark on the Seanckus Mor,
485 «.

Laoghaire, King of Ireland, pronun-
ciation of the name, 150 /r.

— his interview with St. Patrick, 417,
jq. — an imitation of the Book of
D.^niel, 419

— Patrick's contest with the Druids
of, ib. — an imitation of Exodus, ib.

— his conversion to Christianity not
sincere, 432 — cursed by St. Patrick,
43 3 — the malediction not fulfilled,/^.

— died a Pagan, 436 sq.

— Patrick's second visit to, 438

— his burial with Pagan rites, 439

— length of his reign, 395, 397

— his daughters, 451 — Patrick's in-
structions to, 452 — their burial,

455
La^ciciput, meaning of the word, 41 1 n,
Lassair, 448
Laubes, or Lobes, in Belgium, had a

monastic bishop, 57
Laws, Pagan, reformed by St. Patrick,

482 sq.
Laws, Penal. See Penal Lcpws
Lazarus, Bishop of the Boscoi monks,

46
Leabhar Breac, listof coarbs of Patrick

from, 176 — its real name, ib. n,
Leabhar buidhe Lecan (Yellow Book

of Lecan), 178

— list of coarbs of Patrick in, 178
Leabhar na huidhre, 439

Lcatha, twofold signification of the

word, 23 «., 25 n.
Lecale, barony of, 408

— meaning of the name, ib. n,
Lecan, Book of, 390

— Yellow Book of (Leabhar buidhe),
178

Leinster, Book of, 180

— list of coarbs of Patrick in, ib.

— list of kings of Ireland since Chris-
tianity in, 183

Leo the Great, his opinion on the
validity of ordination per saltum, 86

— epistle of Gallican bishops to, 279
Lerins, island of, 336

Less, a fort, 477 ».

— rendered ci*vitas, 479 n.
Leteoc, adjective from Letha, Letavia,

or Armorica, 361 ».
Letha, sea of, 337
Lleurwg, sumamed Lleufer Mawr,

266 n.
Liamain, or Limania, sister of St.

Patrick, 364 — her seven sons

ib. ft.
Light over St. Patrick's tomb, 489
Liguge. See Locociagum
Limania. See Liamain
Lists of Coarbs of Patrick, 172, sq.
Loam, or Lochamach, son of Emasc,

taught letters by St. Patrick, 507
Loame, Bishop of Brettan (now

Bright), 293 If.
Lobes, or Laubes, in Belgium, 57
Lochamach. See Loarn
Loch Corrib, island of Inchaquile In,

365
Lochan, son of Luidir, 203
Lochm, maeus of King Laoghaire,

422 — his death, 42 3 — stone of, ib. n,
Locociagum (Lipige), first monas-
tery of the Gallican Church, 87 n,
Loigles, fountain so called, 442
Loiguire-Breg, 26a
Lombard, Peter, 241 n,
Lomman (St.), nephew and disciple

of St. Patrick, 1 50 — a Briton, ib. —

his death, 1 52 — history of, 257 sq. —

race of, 260
Lonnchad, daughter of Eochaidh

Echbeoil, 407 n.
Lorica, what, 426, 431
Lorica, of Gildas, x 24

— of Patrick, 124, 426
Lou?h Hacket, 500 n.
Loutn. See Lughmagh
Lucetmael, Druid of King Laoghaire,

4»a . .

— pours poison into Patrick's cup, 42 5

— his incantations, and contest with
Patrick, ib. — story of his death,
432 ».

Lucius, King of Britain, 266
Lugaidh, King of Ireland, 433

— exempted from Patrick's curse, 434

— confusion about St. Patrick's inter-
view with him, 435

Lughmagh, now Louth, Monastery of,

469 n.
Lugnaed, nephew of St. Patrick, his

tomb-stone, 365

M M

530

Index.

Lunanus, son of the King of the
Romansy followed St. Declan to
Ireland, 209

Lupait, or Lupita, sister of St. Patrick,
354, 361 — curious story of, 90 ».

Lupus (St.), of Troyes, 269, 271

Vf AC-CARTHENN (St), carried

St. Patrick on his shoulders, at the

foundation of Clogher, 467 n, 469 n,

— Gospels given to him by St. Patrick,
469 ft,

Mac Cuillinn (St.), of Lusk, date of

his death, 495 n.
Mace Ercae, 509 n.
Mace Rime, episcopus, 509 ».
Mac Geoghegan, Hist, de Tlrlande,

241 ff.
Macha, probably a district, ib,
Macha, Queen, 475 n,
Macon, Council of, 45
Mael, the Druid, 451

— his conversion to Christianity, 454

— meaning of his name, 455 ».
Maccuchor, Island of, 40c, 406
Magh Bregh, or Bregia, 406 ir.
Magh Domnon, 442 n,
Magh Girgin, 296
Magh-inis, 408

Magh Sleacht, a plain in Cavan,

127, 464 — idol in, 127
Magh-Life, 466
Magi, or Druids of Laoghaire, 422

— their names, ib.

— Patrick's contest with, 423
Magical virtues of Hymns, 1 24, 140

of Books, 105, 106, 124

Magonius, or Maun, a name of St.

Patrick, 363
Maguire (Cathal), 470 u,
Mahee Island, 41 2, n. See Mochaoi,
Maistin, now Mullaghmast, 438
Maine-eiges, father of St. Etchen, his

genealogy, 253
Malachy (St.), stone churches anovelty

in his time, 304^1.
Manchcn (St.), 449
Manis, Bishop, 260
Mansuetus, or Mansuy, Bishop of

Toul, an Irishman, 194

— not a dist-iple of St. Peter, ib,
Maor, office of, at Annagh, 170
Marcan, son of C'ilHn, his genealogy,

253, 254 — blessed by St. PatricK,
466

Martair, the word signifies relics, 476 m.

Martin (St.), of Tours, said to have
been uncle to St. Patrick, 87

date of his death, 3 19 jv.

Abbey of, at Tours, 56. Mon-
astic Bishops of, 57 n.

Mass, different forms of, used bjr the
three orders of Saints, 88 sq,

Mathorex, or Amathorex, 317

Maun, or Magonius, a name of St.
Patrick, 363

Maud. See Medhb.

Medhb, or Maud, Queen of Con-
naught, 451 n,

Mel (St.), curious story of jm^"***!
respecting, 91 «.

Meutni (same name as Tathi or
Thaddeus), the Irish priest who
baptised St. Cadoc, 99

Mevrick (S.R.), History of Cardigan-
shire, 3520.

Michael (St.), Mount, 337

Michomeris, an Irishman, 31S ».

Milchu, Miliuc, or Michul, St. Fi-
trick's master, 373

— St. Patrick's visit to, 407

— his death, 408

— prediction as to his posterity, i&.

— his son and daughters, ib. m,
Milo, author of Metrical Uflb of St.

Boniface, 47
Milthous, 454

Mis (Mount), now Slemish, 374
Mission of St. Patrick firovn Rome,

not mentioned by Prosper, 309

nor in the Confession, 309

nor in the Hymn of St. Sech-

nall, 312

nor in Fiacc's Hymn, 313

recorded by Scholiast on Fiacc^a

Hymn, 321
Mochaoi (St.), called also Ciolan,

41 2— conversion of, 412 ».
Island Mahee named from him,

4x2 n,
Mochta, Abbat of Lughmagh, or

Louth, 29

— numbers composing his housefaoU,
ib,

— antient poem on, 30

— Monastery of Louth founded hy,
469 «.

Modhaidh, 290

Mocdhog, or Mogue (St.), Bishop of

Ferns, 14
meaning of the name, 115

Index.

5 Si

Moedhog, his adventure with the
orconomus of St. David, 167

M()"^enog or Mugenog, 260 n.

Molagea (St.), commanded by an
angel to return to Ireland, 117

Molua (St.), legend of, 114

Monasteries of St. Patrick, founded
for intercessory and perpetual de-
votion, 503

did not always exclude women,

504

chieftainship of the abbats of,

505

causes of their popularity in

Ireland, 505

Monxstic character of Irish Chris-
tianity, 87 — not due to St. Patrick,
88

Monduirn, mountain, 423

Moore (Mr.), his description of St.
Patrick's success, 501

Morion (Mount), 329, 337

Moses, legendary parallel between
him and St. Patrick, 418

Mucne, 443

Mugenog, brother of Lomman, 260

Mugint (St.), story of, 91 ».

Muinnter, or family^ of a monastery,

Muircheartach O'Brien, nominal King

of Ireland, 2
Muirchu Maccumachtene, his life of

St. Patrick, 314 «., 401 — preface

to, 402 — Latin form of his name,

402 ;/.
ignores the Roman mission of

Patrick, 315
Muir-nicht, the English channel,

360 ».
Mullaghmast. See Maistin.
Murder of an Irishman, not felony,

239
Murcdach, son of Eochaidh Doimhlen,

surnamed Colla-da-crioch, 471
Murcdach Tirech, King of Ireland,

4-71
Mullach Fharraidh, 448 n,
Mumessa, or Munessa, 464 n.
Mungo (St.). See Kentigern
Munis. See Manis
Munster, conversion of, by St. Patrick,

467 — fictitious, 468

ISJAITON, King of the Picts,
Abbat Coelfrid's letter to, 487

Nathi, son of Garrchu, his genealogy,
253 — his being contemporary with
Palladius and Patrick how ex-
plained, 254

— opposes St. Patrick, 338, 341
Navan Fort, near Armagh, 472
Nemthur, birthplace of^St. Patrick,

355 ^q-
Nendrum, or Aondniim, 412 n,
Nennius, his account of Palladius,

290 n.

— Irish version of Nennius, 3 xr. 394
Newry River, its antient name, 472 n,
Niall of the nine hostages, leader of

the expedition in which Patrick

was captured, 361
Nicaea, first council of, meaning of

its Canon IV., 80 jy.
Ninian (St.), 282
Noi-fis, 483
Novatianism, 489

QAK, names of places derived from,
21 ff.

— of Kildare, 21 ».
O'Brien, Muircheartach, 2
O'Callaghan (John), his ed. of the

Destruction of Cyprus, 231 ».

Ocha, battle of, 394

Ochmus, or Ecbatius, 354

O'Clery (John), 173

O'Conor (Dr.), his argument for the
coincidence of the feast of Tara
with the vernal equinox, 414

his mistake respecting the festi-
val, ib.

Odhran. See Oran

O'Donnell, Baldear^, 230 n,

O'Donovan (Dr.), his edition of the
Battle of Magh Rath, 148 ».

his edition of the Circuit of

Ireland, 237 «.

his edition of the Book of

Rights, 130, 207 ft. 471 n.

his edition of the Topographical

poems of O'Dubhagan, 203 n,

471 »;

his edition of the Four Mas-
ters, 128 n. et passim

his Tribes and Customs of Hy

Many, 125 ».

his Tribes and Customs of Hy

Fiachrach, 313 ». 44a sq.

his description of St Patrick's

teaching, 500

O'DriscolTs, country of, 38

532

Index.

Oeconomus, his duty in a monastery,
i66, 169

— often resisted the abbat, ib,

— instance of a battle between Occo-
nomi, ih,

— favoured by the rule of St. Colum-
banus as against the abbat, ib.

— sometimes abused his power, 167

— anecdotes of, ib,
Oengus, son of Senach, 508
O 'Flaherty, family of, 38
O'Flaherty (Roderick), his opinion of

the length of King Laoghaire's

reign, 397
O'Flynn (£ochaidh),his poem quoted,

416 n.
Ogham characters, later than St.

Patrick's tim<;, 5 1 1 ».
O'Hanlon (Rev. J.), his life of St.

Malachy, 304 ».
Oilioll Molt, slain in the battle of

Ocha, 394
Oirghialla, tribe of, 215

— district of, now Oriel, 471 ».

— legendary etymology of the name, f^.
Oirchinnech, see Aircninneach
Oirthear, or Orior, district of, 472 ff.

— why so called, ib.

O' Kearney (Nicholas), his edition of
the Festivities of Conan, 426 «.

Ollamh, meaning of the word, 1 34 » .

OUamh Fodla, King of Ireland,
416 n.

Ondbahum, mother of St. Patrick,
354 ».

Oran, or Odhran, St. Patrick's cha-
rioteer, 464

Oran (St.) of Hy, his voluntary
death, 125

legend of, 462 n.

Orders, three, of the saints of Ireland,
88 n.y sq.

— the second order, 98 sq.

— the third order of saints, 97
Ordination per saltum, 74, 84

— not peculiar to the Irish Church,

^+

— not invalid, 85

Oriel. See OirgiaUa
Orior. See Oirthear
Ossory, district of, blessed by St,
Patrick, 467

— coextensive with present diocese of
Ossory, 38

— right of visitation in, claimed by
the successors of St. Columba, 467

O'Tooles, 286 H.

Oudin, Casimir, his opinion of the

writings of St.. Patrick, 349
his mistake about the tract,

De Tribur HabitaciUis, 534 «.

pAGAN literature of Iieland, 512,

513. Sec Lanvs
Palladius, first bp. of the Scoti, a
disciple of St. Grcrmain, 270

— not a deacon of Rome, 276

— more probably St. Germain's dea-
con, ib.

— not a Briton, 278

— probably a native of Gaul, aSo

— opinions respecting him, ib, jv.

— his family eminent in Gkiul, 279

— sent to tne Scots of Ireland, aSo,
281, 285

— not sent to oppose Pelagianism,
284

— landed in Wicklow, 286

— account given of him by Muirchu
Maccumacthene, 288

— by Tirechan, 289

— by the Scholiast on Fiacc, 289

— by Nennius, 290 n.

— in the Vita seciinda, 293

— in the Vita quarta, 296

— his martyrdom, 289, 297

— Scotch traditions of him, 298, 300'

— his relics placed in a silrer ihnne,
299

— Lessons for his day in Brer, of
Aberdeen, 299

— his short life inconsistent with the
Scotch traditions, 303

— probably commemorated at Au-
vergne, 305

— coincidence of his day with that of
St. Patrick, 305

— called also Patrick, 305

— known by the name of Patrick, to
the 1 2th century, 308

— probably accompanied St. Gctmain
to Britain, 318

Palladius, Archbishop of Bourges,

279
Pall-ere, or Pallad-ere, 294
Paparo, Cardinal, 218
Patricius, a name in common use in

the 5th century, 305 «. 307
Patrick (St.), not mentioned in Bcde*s

writings, 96

— this sucnce, how explained, 96

Index.

53S

Patrick (St.), overturned pillar-stones,
127

— laboured seven years in Munster,
220

— commissioned by St. Germain, 316,

323

— could not have been a disciple of
St. Germain, 319

— story of his connection with St.
Germain, transferred from Pal-
ladius, 320

— commenced his ministry in Ire-
land as a priest, 326, 327, 343

— story of his landing in Wicklow
really belongs to PaTladius, 34.0 sq.

— his genealogy, 353 n.

— story of his Jewish descent, 362 ».

— admits in his confession his want of
learning, 353

— his account of his parents and
family, 353

— his father a decurio, 354

— his birthplace, 355

— not a native of Ireland, 358

— his family connected with Armo-
rica, 360

— his own account of his captivity,
362

— his original name Succat, 363

— why called Patrick, 363

— his brothers and sisters, 364

— his condition in his captivity, 366

— his escape and return to his native
country, 367

— his passage through a desert, 369

— the herd of swme relieves him
from famine, 369

— his invocation of Elias, 370^true
meaning of the passage, 371

— his escape from Milcnu, 374

— his second captivity, 375

— his return to his parents, 376

— his call to convert the Irish, 377

— his second vision, 379

— obscurity of his acts, 401

— rejection of him by the tribes of
Leinster, 403

— his Creed, 388

— date of his mission, 391

— chronology of his life altered to
suit the story of his Roman mission,
391 sq.

— his sojourn at Inis-Patrick, 404

— his success in Ulidia, 407

— his first convert Dichu, 408

— his first Church, 409

Patrick (St.), visits his old master,
Milchu, 408

— Druids prophesy his coming, 41 1

— his preachmg in Meath and at
Tara, 412 sq. 420 sq.

— his visit to Tara not on the first
Easter after his coming to Ireland,
413, 417 iy.

— nature of^ the Pagan festival cele-
brated at Tara, 414 sq,

— his Irish hymn, 425 sq,

— his four honours, 429

— curses King Laoghaire, 433

— the malediction not fulfilled, 433

— his interview with King Lugaidh,

435

— confusion between Laoghaire and
Lugaidh, ib.

— his second visit to Laoghaire, 438

— his interview with Carbri, son of
Niall, 439

— converts Conall Gulban, 440

— his meeting with the sons of Amal-
gaidh, 442

— visits Tirawley, 445

— his danger on the journey, 44.7

— discovers the wood Fochlut, 447

— preaches to the clan Amalgaidh,
448

— baptises large numbers, 449

— festival of his * baptism,' ib.

— converts the daughters of King
Laoghaire, 451 sq,

— revisits Ulster, Meath, Leinster,
Wicklow, 465

— consecrates Fiacc, 466

— blesses Ossory, 467

— converts Munster, 467

— baptises Aengus, King of Munster,
468

— founds Armagh, 468 sq,

— said to have visited Rome after the
foundation of Armagh, 481

— his pious theft of the relics, ib.

— his reform of the Irish Pagan laws,
482

— his synods, 484

— spurious works, ib,

— his death, 489

— died at Saul, 490

— his four petitions, ib,

— contest for his body, 49 1

— buried at Downpatrick, 493

— date of his death, 494 sq,

— review of the history of his mis-
sion, 498

534

Index.

Patrick (St.), first addressed himself
to the chieftains if*-

— cau^e of his rapid success, 499

— his toleration of Pagan usages,
500

— his success overrated, 501

— his life sometimes in danger, 502

— his ecclesiastical buildings forti-
fied, ih.

— resistance to his preaching and
authority, ih.

— creates ecclesiastical clanship in
the monasteries, 503

— ordains, for the most part, natives
of the country, 50

— his measures for education of the
priesthood, 506

— teaches ahgitoria or alphabets,
507 — especially to those mtended
for the ecclesiastical life, 508

— not the first to teach letters to the
Irish, 510

— his missionary character, 514

— See Mission.
Patrick of Nola, 307 «.

Pausavit and Pausatio, meaning of

the words, 177 «.
Pelagianism, prevalent in England,

140, 271 — not in Ireland, 141

— Gildas, not sent to oppose it, 141

— letter frtim Tomene of Armagh
to the clergy of Rome on, 141

Pelagius, the heretic, of Irish birth,
i«;o

— his great stature, 191 sq.

— said tn have been a Briton, 192
Pelagius, of Tarentum, 192

Penal laws against the mere Irish,
234, 244

— sanctioned by the bishops and
court of Rome, 235

Pennant, his Ntor>' of St. Oran of Hy,
462 n.

Peregriiuis, the word signifies a pil-
grim, 261 n.

Peiirds, two, in Irish church his-
tory, I

— f«»iir, of thiity yearsin St. Patrick's
lite, -;i;3 //.

PetitiiujN, tnur, rit* St. Patritk, 490
Petrie ( Dr.), his dismviry •»! a tomb-
stiuie in l.iH li C.'orrib, \fi^

— first piiblislud the Irish Hymn «»f
St. Patrii k, 4; ^ u.

— his mistake .1. !•» the meaning o\'
the lirst wiiiii m\ till hynui, 42<^» n.

Petrie (Dr.)» first publUhcd the Scti*
chas-na-relec, 197 «.

— essay on Tara quoted, lao, is;*
202, et passim

— his * Round Towers* quoted* 19S
n. 365, 478 m, cii jff.

— his account ot the Scnchus Mur,
483,484

— essay on the Domnach Airgid*
469 n. 510 H,

Philosophers, the word used by So-
zomen to denote monk»y 46

— used a.s equivalent to the IrtJi
word filedhy 1 34 «.

Picts' wall, 268

Picts of Dalaradia, why 10 called, 407

Pilgrimage, practiced by the tccoDd
order of saints, 114

Pillar-stones inscribed by St. Patrkk
with the names of Christ, 500 «.—>
ins(Tihed with abgitorium, at Kil-
malkedar, 5 1 s n, — the idol of Magb
Sleacht, 127

— the idol Crom cruach, or Crom-
dubh, 127

— Leach Phadniig, at Cashel, laS

— Cermand Celstach, at Clogher, i^.
Plague, yellow, or straw>coiouftd,

Plcdi, name of Palladius at Fofdan,

291
Policy of St. Patrick in hu muuoa,

498
Potitus, a priest, grandfather of St.

Patrick, 353
Primacy, of Armagh, nature of, la

early times, 94
Princeps, the word often meant 1

bishop, 15} ».

— Used to traaslatc comarb, 157

— and erenach, 165

Probus, his account of the oidtaatiaQ

of St. Patrick, 314
Pr«>genies ecclesiastica and plebilis

meaning of, 153, 154
Prophecy, Druidical, of St. Patrick**

coming, 410

— not genuine, 411

Prose lytus, used to signify a pUgrim,

6 n.
Prosper, of Aquitaine, 170

— his chronicle, ih. jr.

— his Uiok against Cavsian, 173

— ii«H-s not notice a c«tmmi%ihioQ to
Patrii k from Pnjie Cele^tinc, 309

Pruvcrb, celebrated S«*olic, 45$

i

Index.

S3S

P%alm«, Book of, transcribed by St.

Patrick, 510
psalter, meaning of the word in Irish,

173 ii.^-of Csuhel, i73^Kif Mac

Kichard Butler, 173
Purj^atory of St. Patrick, Prtf. vii.

307, 484 m.

QUADRIGA, a name of St. Pa-
^ truk, 363
(^\i<>ilt-, an inlet of Strangford lough,

4yl H.

O ALPH of Chevter, Polychronicoo

•^ ot, 308

Kathhrrxail, synced of, 1 «.
K.ith-<To^han, 451. Sec CngAam
KatluuM, or Kathnew, 187
KcrhtitutUH, or Rotitutun, 364
Kcforination of religion in Ireland,

the object of the second order of

vaint", 107
Kttorination in i6th century rejected

aN Knglish, 242 -indirect political

eviU rauMii by, 244
RcLitivcN of St. Patrick, whether any

nt thi-iii were with him in Ireland,

"/"> n.
Rilti-na-rigb, 455 tt,
RiliiN, stolen by St. Patrick from

RnllU, 481

Rili^', or Recles, name of a sepulchral

i him h, 476
Rt hijui.r, 455
Rniion^traiue of Irish chieftains to

Pupc ji.hn XXn. 236/0.
Ri^titutuo, Hishop of Lonaon, a68
RcNtitiitus, or Rcchtitutus a Lom-

hani, 364
Riis(Rcv. Rice), his 'Welsh Saints'

(|ui>ttil, 205 ft. 211 Jr. 352 n,
Rits (W. J.), • Live* of Cambro-

Kriti^h Saints/ 99 n. 1

RciviH (Rev. Dr.), hi* edition of

* Atiainiian,' 6, 8, 19, 106, // ■

pusstm \

— - Ills • Kcclexia.stical History of

l)n\^n ami Connor,* 77, 17a, 108, j

tt f'tunm '

- Imn * Antient Churches of

.Ariiu^^h,* 4-6 H. sq.
~ his * Art hbishop Colton\ Vi»i-

faTi«»n/ 4-8 n.
Riaiia (the Route), 267

Ricend, sister of Patrick, 354
Righe, river, now Newry, 47a ».
Rights, Book of^ 130, 471 »•
Rome, Irish saiDts mincukMialy ktii«

dcrcd from going tOy 100, 101,1159

ii6

— St. Patrick's theft of relics from,

— date of his supposed visit to, ik. m.
Rot-Ailithre, now the sec of Rms, 3!
Ross, or Rusy son of Tridiim, his

legend, 459

Route, the, 267

Ructi, brother of St. Patrick, 361 «•

Rudbert, or Rupert, founder of the
Benedictiiie abbey of Saltiburgfa,
60 — his Miccesaon at Saltaburgh,
60, 61 — his suppoicd Irish dcaociit,
6*, 63

Russ, or Ross, mac Trichim, 411 »•

CABHALL, now Saul, cooaty of
^-^ Down, 344

— first Church founded by St. PMrick,
409

— meaning of the word, ih, ».

— donation of, by Dichu, 410

— rctfueskt of tne donor that tht
Church should be trampuirte^ a6.

— St. Patrick died at, 490

Sabhal, a Church at Armagh so called,

41 2— identified with the smutrmBs

eccUsia^ 4S0
Sacrifice, human, not taught in Irish

IcKencU, 461
Saigner, name of a well, 199, 100
Saints second order of, bad fmich in

charms and incantations, 113

— resisted the banishment of thebaids,
13s— «vils prevalent in their time,
146

— why called CatJMic Presbyters, 146

— consecrated St. Moedhog, 147
Salonius, or Solinus, companion of

Pailadiuf, 195, 197*301
Saltsburgh, its connection with Ire*

bnd, 60 if.
Samhain, what, 1 34 ».

— feast of, 416

Sannan, brother of St. Patrick, 360 ».

Saul. Sec SmhJkMi

Schewes (Wm.), Archbishop of St.

Andrews 299
Scholiast on Fiacc's Hymn 1 his nr*

count of St. Patrick*s mission, 311

53^

Index.

Sciric Arcaile, now Sktrry, antient

Chun'h of, 374
Scot, corpulent, spoken of by St.

Jerome, 190/7.
Scothnoe, mother of Fcidilmidh, son

of Laoghaire, 259
Scotia, Scotland not so called until the

twelfth Century, 41 a.

— signified Ireland before the twelfth ,
century, 41 n. 282 fq.

Scoti, their tradition of the date of

St. Patrick's death, 496. Sec PaJ-

laJius
Scotic, or Gaedhelic, colony, date of,

248
Scotland, not called Scotia until the

1 2th century, 41 ».

— its ecclesiastical institutions derived
from Ireland, 44

Scotnoe, 151

Scots, Colony of, in North Britain, 266
Scuthin (St.), legend of, 91 n.
Sechnall, or Secundinus, 364

— his Hymn, 312, 430

— silent on the Roman mission and
education of Patrick, 312

— not present at St. Patrick's Synod,
486

Sectmaide, 361
Secunilinus. See Sechnall
Sedulius, the Poet, an Irishman, 196
SegetiuN, 316, 323, 326, 328, 335
Sele, River, now Blackwater, 439
Senach, Bishop, at Achad Fobhair, 508
Senait Mac Maghnusa, an i^land in

Loi*h Erne, 4-'o n.
SenatenscN Annalc^, why so called, ih.
enchas na Relic, a History' of Cenie-

terieN, 197 n.
Senchua, Church of, 222, 225 n.
Senchus Mi)r, itN preface, 483 — Dr.

PetrieN ;i(-(-«iunt of it, 483

Cnliran'" trnir respecting, ih.

Senior (St.), Hi^hiip, 325, 336
Self (St.), or SiTvanus 302 h.
Siiihe, or Siodha, meaning of the word,

SidtiniuN Apolilnarius, 279 «.
Simplitiuv, AnhbiNhop ot Bourge«,

278 n. - hi* wite, 2-9 n.
Sinai (Mount), Monks of, had a

BiNhop ot thiir own, 68
Sinell, M)n of Finniailh, tirxt convert

«»f St. Pairi* k, ',44, ^4^ If.
Sinlstraiis cciIcni.i, at Armagh, 479,

48J

Sisters of St. PUrick, 354.».» 360
Sister, sienifics sometimes a more dii-

tant relation^ 366 ».
Skerries, 404, 405
Slain, River, niiming into Stnngfbrd

Lough, 406
Slane, co. of Meath, antient name of,

420
Slemish. See Sliahk Mis
Sletty, or Slebte, 414
Sliabh Gua, or Cua, itS ».
Sliabh Cualann, 343 jr.
Sliabh Misy now Slemish» 374, 407,

408
Solinus. See Sakmims
Staff of Jems, 323, 31!
Stephen (Pope), hiit charter to St.

Fuldrad, sanctioning a w*****«*^

bishop, 53
Stoken, Whitley, his translation of the

Irinh Hymn of St. Patrick, 416 ».
his analysis of the ^lU word of

the Hymn, ih,

his Irish Glosses, ii4».t 1 56 m.

his edition of Cormac's Glos-
sary, 413 ».
Stone Churches in Ireland, 304 ».
Subjection of Bishops to the Abbat,

example of, 8
Succaty St. Patrick's baptismal name*

363
Succevs of St. Patrick, its cause, 499

over-rated, 501

Sugar-loaf Mountain, antient name
• "*'» 343 /»•

Sui, meaning of the word, 177 «.
; Suicide, religious, recommended by
j the Albigenses, 463
I Suir, a Ninter, used in Irinh to signify a

more distant relative, 354».» 366

Sun and wind killed Laoghaire, 437

' Swidl>ert (St.), a Bishop without a

we, 47
I SylvcNter, companion of Palladius, 195,
'297,301
Synch roni!«m« of Kings of Ireland and

Scotland, Tract on, 394
Syn<»ds attributed to St. Patrick, 414*.

I synod of Patrick^ Auxilius and

I Iseminus485

j second synod attributed to St.

Patrick, 488

'pABERNiC, or Tabemij
tabernacles or trnt^, 3 5S

not

Index.

S37

TAh\c%, genealogical, 147

raritus hin tcMiinony to the early

(-r»inmcfx*e of Ireland, 51a «.
Tikilrrmi, meaning of the name, 41 1 m,

4H
'rr;kfh-na- Roman, 391, 194, 197
Tclltown, 439
Temple- Fertagh, 47!
'IVmum-UmiN, 160
TcrtuUiun, Wis testimony to the early

c:hriNtunity of Britain, 165
TcTvanuN, or Temanus joa
ThnKl(l^ius II. cmpcnjr, jii, 3*9
Thirty years, peri<Ml% of, pervade

Irish hagiography, 393 ».
Tigris, sister ot St. Patrick, 354,

16,
Tillcmont rejects the t^toricft of St.

Patrick's Mstcr», 365

— his judgment of the Epistle about
Corotirus, 385

— his jutlement of the Confenion of
St. Patruk, 38a

Tir-Amalgaiilh, now Tirawley, 44a

« . 447

rir Khiarhrarh, now Tireragh, 447

rir-Oiliolla, 223 h.

Tirct h.in, his chronology of St. Ra-
ti irk's lite, 395

— his ato>tint of the four honours of
St. Patrirk, 429

- Ills hi».tor\', 444
a liistipic of St. Ultan of Anl-

brauan, lA.
Tirirnll, 223 h.
r«»a^lm', in the county of Armagh,

SI ^
r«)i'iir-Cn-a(larc, 449
Ttilcrati^m, St. Patrick's 500
roinciif. Bishop of Armagh, his

Utter to the clergy of Rome, 141,

»4»
Tun^urc, allusion to in the Druidical
l»rnj»hccy of St. Patrick's coming,

4« '

I)r\ii<{ical tonsure, 455 «., 456
Rfinan tonsure alluded to in a

(.inon attributetl to St. Patrick, 486

- Riiinan, when adopted by the

monks nf My, 487

— .AiUmnan's ionfercnce with Coel-

trni, nil, 487
Irish tonsure what, 487 tt.
rMr.innan (St.), 302 ».
rorilhcalbach, meaning of the name,

: fi.

Touts Abbey of St. Martin at, 56

Tract on Chronology of the Kingaof
Ireland in the Book of Lccan, 396

Traig, a foot, 477 «.

Transvenc position of the Church ol
Sabhall, 410

Treguier, 369 «•

Trim, meaning of wotd, 1 co »•

— legend of toundation of, a 57 — ig-
nored by the Ulster annalt, 470

-— See Jii Trmim

Tuath Eochadha, now Toaghic, co.
of Armagh, ai5

Tuathal Techtmar, King of Irelandy
remodels the institutions of Ollamh
Fodla,4i6 «.

Tuathal Maelgarb, King of Irrland,

440
Tulach Aichne, 451 «.
TuUch-na-leicc, near Armtffh, 4S0
Turus, a journey or pitgrimagc,

36011.

TTI CENNSELAIGH, district of,

ai6».
Ui Chorra, or grandsons of Corr»

404 '• — romantic talc of their

voyage^, ih,
Ui Dortain, or Ui Tortain, a6o ••
Ui Dorthini, a6o
Ui Eachach Uladh, ai4
Ui Oiliolb, country of, aaa, aa) ».
Ultdia, now the county cSf Down,

406
Ulster, Annals of, by whom ccnd-

po*d, 470 ».
why called Annates ScnateMO,

470 if.
their dates one year behind the

common xra 469 jr., 496 ».
their date of St. Patrick*s dcith,

49^
Ultan (St.) of ^nlbraccan, a disciple

ot' St. rfeclan, at a— legend of, i»

his date, 113

bi»hop of the DaUConchubbair,

»*.t444
hiH care of the orphaai whoae

parents died of the plaffue, at]
Unicm Legislative, of Great Britain

and Ireland, a45 —. indirect evil

produced by, ih,
t Ur^mar, Ant Abbat and Bishop of

Laubc%, 57, ft
' Uriel, »ce OirgmSm

538

Index.

Ussher, his opinion of the year in
which St. Patrick died, 494

WALENTIA, Roman province of,
^ 268
Vermericnse Concilium, held under

King Pepin, 40 «.
Vernense, seu Vemorensc Concilium,

40 ff.
Vemeuil, synod of, 40 n.
Victor, St. Patrick's guardian angel,

.377,

Victoricus, a man from Hiberio, ap-
pears in vision to Patrick, 377

Vigilius, Pope, only a deacon when
consecrated bi>hop, 87

Virgil of Saltzburgh, an Irishman, 64

his Irish name Fergil or Fergal,

called the " Geometer," 64

propounded the theory of " an-
tipodes," 65

brought with him Bishop Dobda

from Ireland, 65

Vitalis of Saltzburgh, said to have
been an Irishman, 63

WEDNESDAY, the dar of Sc.
^^ Patrick's birth, baptism, and

death, 495, 450 «.

— the day of St. Brigid's birth, being
veiled, and death, 450 ».

Whitsundav, the day of St. Co-

lumba's birth, baptism, and death,

450 if.
Wicterbus, BUhop and Abbat of St.

Martin's of Tount, 57
Wilde, Mr., his Introductioo to the

Census of Ireland, 213 ».
Winfrid (St.) or Boniface, a bi5ihop

without a see, 47
Wlfard, or Gulfard, Abbat of Sc

Martin's, 57
Women, exclusion of by second order

of saints 9>i 9*

— not excluded from St. Patrick's
religious societies 504

Wood, churches of, 304 m.
Writing, art of, taught by St. Pttrick
to his converts 51a

7EUSS, Grammatica Ccltica, 16 •-
^ 163 if.

LUMViN
rklMLC BY kroTTIIMOODt AhD CO

IFork^ by the same Author.

DisCorKSKs on tW PKOlMlKriKS n^latini? to ANTICHRIST

III th. UKII l\(iS uf DiNIKL aii.t ST. JOHN*. Pn-achrd before tbe Univertity of Dublin,

mt till- Ihiiiiiilljii l^rctiirp. Hvo. Dublin, I.h«0. I4t.

Tiu» LAST AGK of tht* CMIUK(MI. \\y John Wyc'lifff., D.D.

N<»t fi «r rniitr.l from • M.S. in tde L'iit\rr»ity library, Dublin ; with Note*. l3ao.

IhiMiit, Im I.

An \IM)lj)(iV for I,()I.I.AIU) DOCTHIXES : a Work attributed

III W \riirfi . Now rimt pniitn] fmni a .MS. in th** l«iiirary of Trimly CoUrje, Dublin ; wlUi an
Intiiiliit tioii aiiil S'tXt^. 4lo. I»nil<>n, iHtJ if'jr tbr ('ttimleii Siiciety).

II..' nooK of OIUTS ami M ARTY KO LOCI V of tin* CATIIE-

l>K\L ( IIIIU II of the llol.Y TUIMTY, i»L'HU.N. With an I utroduction. 4to.

huli.iii, isti -tor thr lri«b .Krrti.T-oloxiral Sorirtyl.

]{i:.MAIfKS on .^.onif STATLM KNTS attrllmtiMl to THOMAS

u^^l.. hM| M I>. in !,i« S|M<o<h III Pttrliamrnt on ACMDK.MICAL KDt'CATlUN In

IKKi ANh. Jul> I'jth. !>%««. ^\u. Dublin, IhH.

DLsCoriiSKS on th.' PK()IMIK(MKSn-latin«to ANTICHRIST in

t:.. AIMM Al.Vi'^'K of ST. JOIIV. Prracb-il bv fore I be t'ntvcriity of Dublin, at tiM Don-

III :.iiii L>< turf, ^v•^ I>u!»liii, iNt't. IOa.CmI.

t:..« iim^h vi:i:si()n <,f tho imstokia britonum of

M.NMI > 1 tti*). wall a rrar.«htiou and N<>tr«. 4to. Dublin, I(»ih ifor tbe Iruh

\:. 1..I*:. ,i.~al > ■» I tN ■.

1 . I-a-.*; . t: ri 4M.| \ IJiti.mAl Ntiti-ii Vj the Hun. AUrrn^m llrrlwrt.;

11. . sKM^'ll afi.T l.NFALLIIULITV: R<Mn ark. ■* on t ho Testimony

• ; th- I v*. .•■r<t ti. t*)" Kiiina:i IVi^ma ^f Infallibility. Hvn. I»nilon. XM^ 3a. 6«L

TlllM:r. TKi:\TlSi:.S:-()n tho CMirUril; On the ENDOWING

. f i». (Ill urn . an.|..M ANTI(IIUI>rs >u\(i in thr ClirKtMI. My Johk WvCLirm.

|) |) N>«« !.!^t )»!>• i%h i from a >!:*. la the Ijbr^ry of Trinity Collfife, Dublin; witk

Nit*. iJiii*. Dui'hii. I'<SI. 1%.M.

Ti.. i;.)()K ..f HYMNS ofthoANTIENTCIirRCH of IRELAND.

I !<> . .'< • I r •• tmriiii.; t)i<> ll\niti of St. .*irchnall in IVait** of 8(. I*atnck ; tbe Hymn of
>t. ( :•« I I'r ii'>t' nf <«i. IIii^mI: t)i(* lUmn of Ml. Cuniinain Fola in l*rait<> of the A|«Mtles;
tl.Ms'' -f >:. Mu^'uit. Mitri Mil h Translation anil Nute«. 4to. Dublin, I hU (for tbo

li:»!i \f ' ♦ Iv'Hal aii'l t'fUii- .NHMrt) t.

li. M MiTYKOLOdY of DONKCAL: a Cah»n«l:ir of the SainU

' I- I ■ lu Mtiii«».t. oH'i>Hr. M*.| . iM llir i>riKiital ln»h; trantlaled by
.1 . I >:■..%-.> ^N. 1.1. I>. K«titiil, With an Introlurtmn, !•) J. II. Toi>ii, D.D.; and
I V W. Ui.hvi.M, D.l». ^^o. Di blui. IM..) ifur till* lri»h .VrcbwIvKK-at and OriUc

IN THE PRESS.
n. r.'H.K of IIYMXSofth.. ANTIENT CHURCH of IRELAND.

l..^. .' II. t r th.- hikli Ar. b . 4 -..-i.-ai an 1 (.VUif S«K-irt)).

T;.' \ \i:> of till' l)\Ni:s ana NOKSKMKN in IRELAND;

fr -ii • ' \ :»t Ai«, •ir.ii.r.- Ill tb. r.ulith IVnt'.ry totif livttlrof «*iiMiUrf. A.ii. 1014. From

M-*. :..-.' I I ail I.'rir%. Ilr ■«. ar. ; in t'lr |,i'ir.ir> i»f Tnnity CVIIece. IHlblin.

\N It', I-, i: (...I.!. t.< !i. il-nr tb<- Kubt lliMi. thf \1a«tilk t<r TiiK Uoli^a ur Kaulaiid.)

1 . \\y X >KS of th.' V vrnoLs : a IVsmptive List of the Walden-

Ma.i .M <•:<>. >i. tb. Libi4r> of Trinity Cvlle.;r, DjbUn ; with an Ap|ieoaix.

MWtf^

I.

i;

i!

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THE IRISH TEXT, FROM THE ORIGINAL MSS.

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PROSPECTUS OF THE WORK,

THERE are few countries in which events of gneatcr interest for
the historian have talcen place, or in which matters of greater
curiosity for the man of general learning have left their traces, than in
Ireland. Long after the other Celtic nations had adopted new forms of
Roman and feudal civilization, Ireland retained the peculiar institutions
and manners of the primitive European ^uniJy | and, rude and imper-
fect as these unquestionably were, in comparison with those of the
neighbouring nations, they must be admitted to have exercised a
material influence on the progress of events in some of the most stirring
periods of modern history. Even to the present day, peculiarities of
thought and feeling, originating in the same source, continue in active
operation among the mass of the Irish population, with which it is

4 PROSPECTUS OF THE

as desirable for the practical sutesman or le^lator^ as for the philoso-
phic historian, or speculative moralist, to be acquainted. Neverthelesii^
it still remains a singular but just reproach to the learned m these
countries, " that the history of Ireland has yet to be written." It is
true, from the time of Camden to the present day, a succession of
writers of ability have dealt with the subject, and each appears to have
exhausted the materials to which he had access ; but these materials^
having been drawn from sources so widely apart, and fix>m authorities
of a style and genius so dissimilar, have never been accessible to any
individual writer, in the abundance or in the proportion requisite for
just and comprehensive views. Until lately, Irish scholars, acquainted
with the places of deposit, and competent to the translation of the
native Annals, have been careless of consulting, or unable to obtain
access to, official records ; while those to whom the sources of official
information have been open, either disregarded the aid, or were igno-
rant of the existence, of the other class of authorities. Hence, the
reader of our principal Irish histories finds, on the one hand, a purely
£nglish version of events, as in Hollingshed or Cox ; or, on the odier,
an equally partial Irish story, as in O'Sullivan or Keating. From these
discordant authorities later writers have compiled general histories, pos-
sessing, indeed, the merit of impartiality, but fix>m which the reader of
the older standard worb collects no new facts, and can, consequently,
form no vivid acquaintance with the past than he already poasesses. In
fact, until the very recent exQ^ons of the Irish Archaeological Society,
it might fairly have been said that, since the publication of Sir RichaRl
Cox's " Hibemia Anglicana," there had been no addition made to die
materials of mediaeval Irish history, with the single . exception of die
splendid collection of Irish Annals translated into Latin by Dr. Charles
O'Connor, and given to the world by the munificence of the late Duke
of Buckingham, under the tide of ''Rerum Hibemicamm Scriptoiei
Veteres."

Of the Annalists, and of the manuscript usually called *'The Anub
of the Four Masters," from which the present publication tt translated
and compiled, it seems proper to ^ ve a very short acount ; also to touch
upon the circumstances attending the execution of the work,''which has
so permanently associated the names of the O'Clery fiuouly with the
history of their country.

AKNAU OF IRELAND. 5

The O'CIerys, in common with their patrons, lost their castle and
estates at the time of the plantation of Ulster ; and ^eir hut and great-
est professional work was executed in the temporary shelter of the
monastery of Donegal ; under the auspices of Fergal 0*Gara, styled
Lord of Coolavin, and at that time one of the members of the Irish
Parliament for the county of Sligo, who became their protector on their
final dispossession, in a.d. 1632. The family at this time consisted of
Teige of the Mountain, otherwise known as Brother Michael, Cucogry,
or Peregrine, and Conary. Supported by the liberality of this truly
noble patron of his country's literature, and assisted by several other
professional historians, of whom Cucogry or Peregrine O'Duigenan, is
reckoned as the " fourth Master," the O'Clerys commenced the com-
pilation of these Annals on the 22nd of January, 1632, and com-
pleted their task on the i8th of August, 1636. The authorities
collated and abstracted into this compilation are enumerated in the
testimonium prefixed to the Annals, and given under the hands of the
guardian and brotherhood of the monastery ; and the motives which led
to the underuking are set forth with equal simplicity and dignity, in the
Dedication to O'Gara : —

" In every country enlightened by civilizadon, and confirmed therein, through a
succession of ages, it has been customary to record the events produced by time. For
sundry reasons, nothing was deemed more profitable or honourable than to peruse and
study the works of ancient writers, who gave a ^thfiil account of the great men who
figured on the suge of life in preceding ages, that posterity might be informed how
their forefathers employed their time, how long they continued in power, and how they
have finished their days. I, Michael O^Clery, have waited on you, noble Feigal
0*Garr, as I was well acquainted with your seal for the glory of God, and the credit
of your country. I perceive the anxiety you suflvr firom the cloud which at prcaent
hangs over our ancient Milesian race j a state of things which has occaaoned the igno-
rance of many relative to the lives of the holy men, who, in former times, have been
the ornaments of our island \ the general ignorance also of our civil history, and of the
monarchs, provincial kings, lords, and chiefbins, who flourished in this country through
a succession of ages ; with equal want of knowledge in the synchronism necessuy finr
throwing light on the transactions of each. In your uneasiness on this subject, I have
informed you that I entertained hopes of joining to my own labours the asostance of the
antiquaries I held most in esteem, for compiling a body of Annals, wherein those mat-
ters should be digested under their proper heads \ judging that should such a compilation
be neglected at present, or consigned to a future time, a risk might be run that the
materials for it should never again be brought together. In this idea, I have, at con-
siderable difficulty, collected the most authentic Annals I could find in my travels
through this kingdom. Such as I have obtained are arranged in a continued tenet ;

6 PROSPECTUS OF THE

and I commit them to the world undtr your name, noble 0*Gani» who stood fanntd
in patronising this undertaking ; you it was who set the andquarians at work ; and
most liberally paid them for their labour in arranging and transcrilMng the docuinenti
before them in the convent of Donagall, where the Fathers of that hoose supplied them
with the necessary refreshments. In truth, every benefit derirable from our labours it
due to your protection and bounty, OTergall, son of Teig, son of Oileall, son of
Dermot," &c. —

and so concludes by reciting his patron's pedigree up to his great
ancestor, Oilioll Olum.

The compilation of Annals among the native Irish was usually
entrusted to the hereditary historians of particular Einiilies, liberally
endowed for that purpose. Thus we owe, among others, the Book of
Lecan (now deposited in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy in
Dublin, and deemed of such value by King James the Second, that he
carried it with him in his flight to France) to the liberality of the
O'Dowds, by whom the family of the MacFirbises were supported as
the hereditary annalists of Hy-Fiachrach ; and thus the 0*Cleiys, the
immediate progenitors of the Four Masters, were, in like manner, the
annalists and historians of the sept of O'Donnell. And as the Mac-
Firbises were supported in sufficient dignity to maintain a cmstle at
Lecan, in Tirerogh, so the O'Cler/s, by the bounty of their patrons,
were enabled to support an equal rank at their Castle of Kilbarron, the
ruins of which are still standing on a rock overhanging the Atlantic, at
a little distance north from Bally shannon.

Of the work produced by the Four Masters there appear to have
been four transcripts, all of which, in whole or in part, have come
down to the present day. The fourth copy, which seems to have been
executed for the use of the O'Clery's themselves, and contains the
original Dedication and Testimonium, in the proper handwriting of the
several parties, is now deposited in the Royal Irish Academy.

The copies have been collated, and from them the translation now
published has been made, by John O'Donovan, LL.D., who has also
added copious Notes, identifying the ancient and modem topography,
and otherwise explanatory and illustrative of the text. The distin-
guished position now occupied by Dr. 0*Donovan, in connexion with
the Irish Archxlogical Society, and his numerous and important contri-
butions to Irish history, topography, and antiquities, through other
channels, will be sufficient vouchers to those acquainted with the actual

ANNALS OF IRELAND.

State of literature in Ireland for the faithfulness and correctness of the
work. With the translation and notes the original text is given in the
Irish character, as in the specimen pages enclosed in this prospectus.
To those desirous of forming an acquaintance with the Irish language^
as used by learned and accomplished writers, while it was still a national
dialect, the work will serve as a text-book which may be referred to
with confidence as a standard of grammatical and orthographical
purity.

The Publishers feel confident that the publication of this great
historical work will be hailed with much satisfaction by men of learn-
ing at home and abroad, who will thereby be put in possession of the
actual text of some of the most ancient chronicles of Western Europe,
and from which a judgment may be formed not only of the social state,
but also of the taste and genius of a people so long separated ^m the
other branches of the European family, and who preserved the charac-
teristics of their Celtic origin so long after the total obliteration of all
such vestiges from the institutions and the literature of the surrounding
nations. The coming of the various tribes by whom Ireland was first
colonized, the introduction of Christianity, and the series of native longs,
are all subjects of much curiosity and importance, and have been treated
by Dr. O'Donovan with a strict regard to the rules of historic evidence,
which cannot but be very acceptable to those who have so often been
repelled from the study of Irish antiquities by the unwarranted assump-
tions of speculative writers. The addition made to our knowledge of
ancient topography, in this division of the work, is very large and im-
portant, as fixing the sites and modem names of almost all the places of
earliest note in Ireland.

The style of the Annals possesses, with a touching simplicity, a
singular distinctness of narration, imited with a very high degree of his-
toric candour. As supplying the deficiencies of printed authorities, the
work may justly claim a place in the library of the historical investi-
gator ; and, as affording a new insight into the habits of thought and
feeling of a large section of the most powerful nation in the world, it
is not perhaps too much to expect that it should also attract the atten-
tion of the philosophic legislator and statesman at home, as well as of
men of learning generally throughout the republic of letters.

The Index will recall to the minds of scholars those great menu-

8 PROSPECTUS OP THE

xnents of accurate and patient industry which afibrd the key to such
collections as the Anglica Sacra of Wharton, or the Jaa Sanetontm of
Colgan, since whose time no similar work approaching the present in
copiousness or usefulness has been attempted in the United Kingdom.
It consists of an In^iex of Names of Persons, and an Iitdex of Places.
The first contains a reference to every proper name mentioned in the
text, and to every recurrence of it, and includes upwards of 16,000
headings. The Index of Places affords the additional convenience of
having the modem name of each locality printed after the ancient ; and
it is no mean guarantee of the Editor's topographical skill that, out of
upwards of 6,000 names of places, only about 100 have escaped his
powers of identification. These appendages, which are also so arranged
as to form a chronological key to the work, will prove invaluable aids
in the investigation of local and family histories.

Considerable expense and trouble have been incurred in selecting
models for the Irish Type, from the best written and most valuable of
the early Irish Manuscripts. The Publishers are happy to say that
their selection has met with the full approbation of all persons capable
of forming a judgment on the subject ; and has been adopted by the
Royal Irish Academy, and the Irish Archaeological Society.

(From the Gentleman's Magazine.)

<* This great national work, extending to upwards of four thousand pages, and ferm-
ing seren large quarto volumes, is the most magnificent contribution to hittotkal Stcn-
ture that either Ireland or England has received for nuny yean. It it in indf a
chronicle of the Irish, written by Irishmen, and of the highest interest lor kt native
annals.**

ANNALS OP IRELAND.

{Prom the JJuartbrly Review.)

" In fine, whether we regard the inductiy and impartiality of the ori^oal com^lert|
the immense learning and extennve researches of the Editor, or the exteniiTe typo-
graphy of the volumes, It must be admitted that these Annals, as edited by Dr. John
0*Donovan, from one of the most remarkable works yet produced on the history of
any portion of the British Isles. The mass of information which they embody consti-
tutes a collection of national records, the value of which can never be superseded. To
the student desirous of obtaining a correct knowledge of the Hibemo-Celtic nee, the
work is indispensable : while in it only ^1 the philologer find materials for tracing, the
progress and various stages of the last remnant of the Indo-European language. Stand-
ing thus alone, it must maintain a high place among the great literary monuments of
the world, so long as the study of history continues to retain the charms which it has
ever possessed for men of cultivated and philosophic minds.**

{From the Dublin Review.)

<< For our own part, even in a professed critical nodce, we can but hope, within the
limited space at our disposal, to render a scanty and imperfiect measure of justice to a
work of such vast extent and of so various and profound erudition. It might appear
at first sight, however, that the task of editing a work in which the Editor has had
the advantage of more than one authentic copy of the autograph MSS. could not hare
presented many, difficulties, at least difficulties of a serious kind. If any person be dii-
posed to entertain the idea, we would beg of him to examine almost every angle page
out of the four thousand one hundred of which the work consists, in order that he
may learn what is the true nature and extent of Mr. 0*Donovan*s editorial laboors.
Let him see the numberless minute verbal criticisms { the elaborate topographical anno-
tations with which each page is loaded ; the historical, genealogical, and bk)gnpliical
notices ; the lucid and ingenious illustrations drawn from the ancient laws, customs^
traditions, and institutions of Ireland ; the parallelisms and discrepancies of the naira-
dve with that of other annalists, both native and foreign } the countless authoiitiet
which are examined and adjusted ; the errors which are corrected ; the omisoona and
deficiencies supplied j in a word, the curious and various learning which u everywhere
displayed. Let him remember that the mines from which all those tieasiiies have
been drawn are, for the most part, unexplored \ that the materials thus lavishly applied
to the illustrations of the text are in great part manuscripts— manuscripCs, too^ which
Ussher and Ware, even Waddy and Colgan, not to speak of Lynch tad Lanigta, had

lO PROSPECTUS OF THB ANMALS OF IRELAND.

never seen, or had left unexamined j many of them in a language which isy to a great
extent, obsolete. Let him remember this, and he will understand without difficulty
the long and toilsome preparation which has been expended on this admirable work,
and will cease to wonder how, commenced in January, 1833, it u only after fifteen or
eighteen years of patient study and investigatioo that it is at last g^TCO to the public.*'

{From the Dtjblin Universiit Magazine.)

<* It is with extraordinary satisfaction and pleasure we undertake the duty of making
our readers acquainted with the great and erudite laboun of Mr. 0*DonoTan. Our
catis^ction is of a high and ennobling kind, for it is chiefly on account of the country
itself that we feel it. In comparing this work to the points of the coral reef, coming
up to light after labours so great and so long hidden, prosecuted in the depths of the
sea, and perfected in the midst of elemental conflict, we suggest no exaggerated idea of
the patient toil of which the results are thus, at length, begiiming to make themielTet
visible amongst us. Mr. Petrie toiled for twelve years in his Essay on the Ecclesiastical
Architecture and Round Towers of Ireland ; it is eighteen years since Mr. O^Donovaa
commenced his exposition and translation of the Annals of the Four Masteiv ; and
here, at length, we have his book in seven quarto volumes — in matter, in learned use
of It, in method, and in typographical excellence, fit to take its place 00 any shelf of any
European library, be^de Camden, Mabillon, or Muratori. The fiune of thcK Annab
has been so widely circuhited of late years, that we need not do mote than coaunend
them, on the one hand, to our scholars and historians, and, on the other, to our jooog
poets, as mines of rich intellectual ore.

'< In our necessarily compendious notice of the rich and Taiied cootenli of Dr.
0*Donovan*s translation of the ** Annals of Ireland, by the Four MaHen^** we have
endeavoured, as far as practicable, to use the language of ori^nal and cootcmpofaiy
writers, intentionally eschewing minute criticisms and arid disquistdoot. We bdievc
that the true object of history is to exhibit faithful picturet of the men of patt agei^ ai
they lived and acted, with all their original and characteristic attributes, free fiom the
gloss of specious exaggeration, and unincumbered by those shallow philotopliic ipmila-
tions, so often delutive. Hence, the peculiar value of the * Annab of the Four
Masters,* in presenting us with unadorned and truthful narratives, rdated ia die TCiy
language spoken by the men whose acts they chronicle, unvarnished and uaflected \f
the contaminating influences of adventitious foreign models.**

DUBLIN :
HODGES, SMITH & CO., 104, GRAFTON STREET,

Publishers to the Univervty.

In the PresSy Svo.

A HISTORY OF THE VICEROYS OF T

WITH III8TOBIC MOTICKS OF

THE CASTLE OF DUBLIN,

And its chief occupants in former times, from authentic original sources of
record, including documents hitherto unpublished and unexplored.

By J. T. GILBERT, M. R. L A.

Librarian of the Royal Irish Academy ; Hon. Secretary Irish Archseological and Celtic
Society ; author of a " History of the City of Dublin,** &c.

JAMES DUFFT, WELLINGTON QUAY, DUBLIN; AND PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.

lOl

Now ready y by the same atUhar,
Three Volumes, 8vo. Cloth, with general Index, price 21s.

A HISTOKY OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN.

'' The Author has removed from Ireland the national reproach of having no
History of its Metropolis. He has produced a work, which has heen, and will
contiuuc to be, read with interest, and referred to as an authority bj all who
may in our own time or in future generations, studj the history and antiqui-
ties of the city of Dublin.** — Address delivered by the President of the Royal Irish
Academy, \Qih March, 1862.

' We look upon this book as the most important and valuable contribution
wliicli has IxMiD made for manj years to our literature, and we think it entitled
to equal rank with any Irish liistorical work that has ever api>eared. Relieved
and illustrated with recondite and interesting narratives, it is a history in the
widest meaning of the word ; a history that, while we read, calls up before
our mental eyes the very forms and features of the men who fought, and wrote
and spoke, and suffered in other days ; the mansions and buildings that have
lonp: ago crumbled into dust, rise like the enchanted castles at the wave of the
magician's wand. The men and things which have long sunk into the post
will be recalled to life by eYery reader of this book, in connection with the
stirring recollections of these times and of that city, of which it is so able^ so
accurate, and so complete a chronicle." — Dublin Review,

DUBLIN: J. DUFFY, WELLINGTON QUAY; AND PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.

• !M

■h

!

FOR THB

PUBLICATION OF THE IIATERULS FOR IRISH HISTOBT.

MDCCCLXm.

Iptefibtnt :

HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF LEINSTER.

THE MOST NOBLE THE MARQUESS OF KILDARE, M.R.LA.

THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DUNRAVEN, M.R.I.A.

THE RIGHT HON. LORD TALBOT D£ MALAHIDE, M.R.LA.

VERY REV. CHARLES W. RUSSELL, D,D^ Praideiit of Maynooth CoUege.

Cimmtl:

VERY REV. CHARLES GRAVES, D.D., President of the Royal Iriih Academj.

REV. JAMES GRAVES, A.B., M.R.LA.

AV. H. HARDINGE, ESQ., M.R.LA.

SIR THOAL^S A. LARCOM, K.C.B., M.R.LA.

.10HN C. O'CALLAGHAN, ESQ.

GEORGE PETRIE, LL.D., M.R.LA.

REV. WILLIAM REEVES, D.D., Secretary of the Royal Irish Academy.

AQUILLA SMITH, M.D., M.R.LA.

\V. R. WILDE, M.D., Vice-President of the Royal Irish Academy.

Siwadntm :

REV. J. H. TODD, D.D., Senior Fellow of Trinity College, DubUu.
J. T. GILBERT, M.R.I.A., Ubrarian of the Royal Irish Academy.

Creasurer :

THE BANK OF IRELAND.

The existing materialB for Irish history liave hitherto been but to
a small extent accessible to the student. The published autho-
rities have been so much exhausted, and the works compiled firom
them are so insufficient, that the expectation of any reliable his-
t(My of Ireland has been generally deferred^ under the conviction

that, before a work of that nature can be produced, great
additions must l)e made to the sources of hiformation at present
extant in print.

The immediate object of this Society is to piiut iu the original.
with accurate English tiun-shitions and annotations, the unpub-
lished documents illustmtive of Iiish liistory, especially those in
the ancient and obsolete language of the country, many of which
can be faithfully translated and elucidated only by scholars who
have been long engaged in the study of the Celtic remains ot
Ireland. Tlie publication of these manuscripts will render many
most impoiiant litemry monuments accessible, not only for his-
torical inquiry, but for the puq^oses of comimrative philology.

The production of twenty-one volumes, bearing upon Irish his-
tory, has been accomplished by the Irish Archaeological Society.
founded in 1840, and the Celtic Society, established in 1845.
The present Society has been formed by the union of these two
bodies, under the name of the ** Iiish Arclia^ological and Celtir
Society," for the presentation of the monuments illustrative of
Irish history, and for the publication of the historic^ bardic,
ecclesiastical, and topographical remains of Irish literature, espe-
cially such as are extant in the Irish language.

Tlie Books printed by the Society are to be obtained only by
its Subscribers, who are divided into two classes : Members, who
pay three pounds admission fee, and one pound per annum ; and
Associates who j^ay an annual subscription of one pound, without
any entrance fee. Meml)ei*s may compound for the future annual
subscriptions by the i)ayment of ten ix)unds, including the sub-
scription for the current year. Meml)ers alone are eligible to the
Council, and they only can vote at general meetings of the Society.
The works published severally by the Iri.sh Arelueological and
Celtic Societies may be obtained by, and threugh, Members, at the
charges specified in the joint Catalogue, copies of wliich can at
all times be obtained free of exi)ense on application to the Hon.
Secretaries, 19, Dawson-street, Dublin.

Ill

PUBLICATIONS

OF THE

IRISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND CELTIC SOCIETY.

LiBKK Hymnori'm: The Book of Ilymiw of the Ancient Church of Ireland; from the
original MS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. Editecl by the Rev. James Hen-
thorn Todd, D.D., Pre*. R.I. A., Senior Fellow of Trinity College. Part I. Containing
(he following Latin IlymiiK, with Irish Scholia and Gloss: —

I. The Alphabetical Hymn of St. Sechnall, or Sccundinus, in praise of St Patrick.
2. The Alphabetical Hymn in praise of St Brigid, attributed to St Ultan, Bishop of
Ardbreccan. 3. The Hymn of St Cummain Fota. 4. The II}inn or Prayw of St
Mugint.

The Like of St. Collmba, by Ai>A3inan, Nhith Abl>ot of Hy [or lona]. The Latin
text taken fnHu a MS. of the early part of the eighth century, preserved at Schaffhausen ;
accompanied by Various Readings from six other MSS., found in di£ferent parts of Europe ;
and illustrated by copiou-* Notes and Dissertations. By the Rev. Willlvm Rkevks, D.D.,
3I.B., ^I.R.r.A. With Map^, and coloured Facsimiles of the MSS.

The two I*art3 are bound in (me Volume^ for the convenience of Members.

Irish Glosses : A Me<li»val Tract on Latin Declension, with examples explained in
Irish. From a Manuscript in the Library of Trinity College, Dul)lin. Together with the
Lorica of Gildas, and the Mid<lle Irish Gloss thereon, from the Lmbhar Breac Edited,
with a (.'ommentary, Notes, and Indices Vcrborum, by Whitlky Stokes, A.B.

Three Fragments of Ancient Irish Annals, hitherto unpublished. Edited, from a MS.
in the Burgundian Lil)rarj', Brussels, with a Translation and Notes, by John 0*Donovak,
LL.l)., M.R.I.A.

The ToiK)graphical Poems (»f Seaan 0*Dul)hagain and Gilla-iui-naomh O'Huidlirin,
enumerating the principal Families and Territories of Ireland, and their Chiefs, in the
fourteenth centurj-. The Irish Text edited, with Translation and copious illustrative
Notes, by John* O'Doxovan, LL.D. ; with the following introductory Essays by the
Iviitor:—

I. On the Poems of O'Dubhagain and O'Huidhrin. 2. Of the ancient names of tribes
and territories in Ireland. 3. Of ancient Irish surnames and agnomina. 4. Of the Irish
names anciently assumed by the English in Ireland. 5. Of the assumption of English
names by the native Irish. 6. Of the Irish families who retained their ancient names on
the Continent and in Ireland. 7. Of Irish family-names anglicised and altered. 8. Of
ancient Irish Christian or baptismal names of men, and their modernized forms. 9. Of
ancient Irish female names and their changes.

IV

Voliv-G in( llaoinh nC^^ientuich : or Calemlar of Native Saints of Ireland, utoaUy
btyled the Martyrology of Donegal ; compiled by Friar Michael O'Clerigh. Edited, froon
the original Manuscript in the Library of the Dukes of Burgundy, at BnmeU, with
Translation, by J. O'Donovan, LL.D., and Notes by J. H. Todd, D.D., and W. Reevesi,
D.D. Nearly ready.

Liber Hymnorum : The Book of Hymns of the Anoieut Church of Ireland ; from the
original MS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. Edited by the Rev. James Ues-
THORN Todd, D.D., Senior Fellow of Trinity College. Part IL In the Prtts.

The AiiTipnoNARY of Bangor, Co. Down, from the original Mannscript in the
Ambrosian Library at Milan. Edited by the Rev. W. Reeves, D.D. In the Press,

Works in Progress.

I. 'Cccin bo Cuai^iie, or the Cattle Spoil of Collon, County Lonth ; tn ancient Historic
Tale, with six minor illustrative narratives. Edited, from Irish MSS. of the eleventh and
twelfth centuries in the Libraries of Trinity College, Dublin, and the Royal Irish Acadenv,
with Translation by the late Eugene O'Cikrv, Esq., M.R.I.A.

II. Account of the Firbolgs, Tuatha de Danaan, and Danes in Ireland ; by Doald Mac
Firbis. The original Irish text, with Translation and Notes.

III. A Tre^vtisk on the Ogham or Occult Forms or W'Rrnxo of the Ascient
Irish; from a MS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin; with Translation, and
Notes, and Preliminary' Dissertation, by the Very Rev. Charles Graves, D.D., President
of the Royal Irish Academy.

IV. The Annals of Tijrhemnch, .and Chronicon Scotorum, from MSS. In the Bodleian
Librar}', and that of Trinity Collc;re, Dubln. Edited by the Rev. W. Ree^-es, D.D.

V. The Annals of Ulster. With a Translation and Notes. Edited from a MS. in the
Library of Trinity College, Dublin, collated with the Translation made for Sir James
Ware by Dudley or Duald Mac Firbis, a MS. in the British Museiun.

VI. The Annals of lunisfallcn ; from a MS. in the Bodleian Libnuy, OzfonL

The Council will receive Donations or Subscriptions to be applied especially to any of
the alK)vc Publication:?.

Sul)8criptious arc received by Edward Clidborn, Esq., 19, Dawson-ttreei, Dublin.
Persons desirous of becoming Subscril>crs to the Society are requested to conumuikate,
by letter, with the Hon. Secretaries, at No. 19, Dawson-street, Dublin.

PCBLISBftDBT

THE lEISH AECHJIOLOGICAL SOCIETY,

AND BY

THE CELTIC SOCIETY:

WITH

THE PRICES AT WHICH THEY MAY BE OBTAINED BY THE MEMBERS OF
THE (UNITED)

M%h QrclisoIoQual anti (Ezliit Sbotitt^.

rUBLICATIONS OF THE IRISH ARCH^OLOGICAL SOCIETY.
Founded MDCCCXL.

1 841.
r. Tracts relating to Ireland^ voL i., containing :

1 . The Circuit of Ireland ; by Muircheartach Mac Neill, Prince of Aileach ;

a Poem written in the year 942 by Cormacan Eigeas, Chief Poet of tbt
North of Ireland. Edited, with a Translation and Notes, and a Map of
the Circuit, by John O'Dosovan, LL. D,, M. R. I. A.

2. 'A IJrifi? Description of Ireland, made in the year 1589, by Robert Payne,

vuto XXV. of his partners, for whom he is vndertaker there." Reprinted

from the second edition, London, 1590, with a Preface and Notes, by

Aqlilla Smith, M. 1)., M. R I. A. Price 15*.

II. Tjik ANN.U.S OF Ireijlsd, by James Grace, of Kilkenny. Edited from the

MS. ill the Librar>' of Trinity College, Dublin, in the original Latin, with a Traub-

latiou anil Notes, by tlie Itcv. RiciiAKD Butler, A. B., M. R. I. A. Price 8*.

1842.

I. Curb lHuighi Hach. The Battle of Magh Rath(Moira), from an ancimt
MS. in th(' Library of Trinity CoUege, Dublin. Edited in the original Irish, with a
Translation ami Notes, by JoiiN O'Doxovan, LI>.D., M. R. I. A. Price 10*.

II. Tll.VCTS KELATIXG TO IRELAND, VOl. IL COUtaiuiug :

1. .V Treatise of Ireland; by John Dymmok." Edited from a MS. in the
Uritii^h Ma-ieum, with Notes, by the Rev. Richard Bltler, A. B.,
M. 11. I. A.

2. I ht- Annals of Multifeman ; from the original MS. in the Library of Tri-

nity College, Dublin. Edited by Aquilijv Smith, M. D., M. R. I. A.

3. A Statute passed at a Parliament held at Kilkenny, A. D. 1367 ; from a

MS. in the British Museum. Edited, with a Translation and Notes by
JamivS IIardiman, Esq., M. R I. A. Price io#.

( 2 )

1843.

I. An Account of tiik Tribes and Customs of the District of IIy-Masst
commonly called 0'Kelly*8 CountiVf in the Counties of Galway and Roocommon.
Edited from the Book of Lecan in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, in the
original Irish ; with a Translation and Notes, and a Map of Hy-)kfany, by Jon?(
O'DoNOVAN, LL. D., M. R. I. A. Price 1 2*.

II. TuE Book of Obits and Marttroloot of the Cathedral of the
Holy TiiiNiTr, commonly called Christ Church, Dublin. Edited from the original
I^IS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. By the Rev. Johk Clakke
CitosTHWAiTK, A. M., Rector of St. Maiy-at-Ilill, and St. Andrew Habbart, Londoc.
With an Introduction by Jahes Hentiiokn Todd, D. D., V. P. R. L A., Fdlov of
Trinity College, Dublin. Price lu.

1844.

I. Reoistrum Ecclesie Omnium Sanctorum juxta Dubldi; Crom the ori-
ginal MS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. Edited by the Rev. Richard
BiTLER, A.B., M.R.LA. Price 7*.

II. An Account of the Tiiires and Customs of the DiaxRicr of 11t-
Fiachrach, in the Counties of Sligo and Mayo. Edited ftom the Book of Lecan.
in the Librar>' of the Royal Irish Academy, and from a copy of the Mac FirUs M$.
ill the possession of the Earl of Hoden. With a Translation and Notes, and a Map
of Hy-Fiachrach. By John O'Donovan, LL.D., M. R. I. A. Price 15*.

1845.
A Descriftion of Wfjst ok H-Iar Connacut, by Roderic O'FIalierty,
Author of the Ogygia, written A.D. 1684. Edited from a MS. In the Library of
Trinity College, Dublin ; with copions Notes and an Appendix. By James Har-
DIM AN, Esq., M.R.I.A. Price 154:

1846.
The Miscellany of the Irish Arch^solooical Society : comtaiuing:—

1. An ancient Poem attributed to St. ColumbkiDe, with a Translation and

Notes by John O'Donovan, LL. D., M. R. L A.

2. De Concilio Ilibcmiie ; the earliest extant record of a Fariiament in Ireland ;

with Notes by the Kev. R. Butler, M. R. L A.

3. Coiiy of the Award as concerning the Tolboll (Dublin): oontxibntcd by

Dr. Aql'illa Smith, M. R. I. A.

4 . I Vdigrcr of 1 )r. Duminlck lA'nch, Regent of the CoUedge of SLThomas of Aqidn,

in Seville, A. D. 1 674 : contributed by James Uaedimait, Esq., II. R. L A.
V A Latin I'oeni, by Dr. John Lynch, Author of Camlremmi Ewmrns, in

roply to the (^uivjtion Cwr in patriam mom redUf Contfibnted by jAXSa

IIakdiman, Esfj., M. It. I. A.
^». Tlio ()l»its of Kilcormick, now Frankfort, Ring's County; contribaled by

tho Kev. J. H. Todd, D. 1)., M. K. I. A.
7. Anri<nt Testament!*: cnntribute<I by Dr. Aquilla Smith, M. R.LA.

5. Aut'»tcr.ii)h U'tior of Thady ()'Iio<ldy : with some Notices of the Author by

tho Uov. J. H. Toi>i), D.D., M. K. I. A.
9. Anto^^aph Letter of Oliver Cromwell to his Son, Harry CromweO«
Commander-in-Chief in Ireland : contributed by Dr. A. Svmii IC. R. L A.

( 3 )

10. The Irish Charters in the Book of Kells, with a Translation and Notes, by

JoiiN O'DoNOVAN, LL.D., M. R. I. A.

1 1 . Original Charter granted by John Lord of IreUnd, to the Abbey of MeUi-

font : contributed by Dr. A. Smith, M. R. I. A.

1 2. A Journey to Connacht in 1709 by Dr. Thomas Molyneux : contributed

by Dr. A. Smith, M. R. I. A.

1 3. A Covenant in Irish between Mageoghegan and the Fox ; with a Transla-

tiou and historical Notices of the two Families, by John O'Donovak,
LL.D., M.RI.A.

14. The Annals of Ireland, firoiQ A.D. 1453 to 1468, translated from a lost

Irish original, by Dudley Firbise ; with Notes by J. O'Donovan, LL.D.,
M. R. I. A. Price 8*.

1847.
The Irish Version of the Historia Brttonum of Nennius, or, as it is called in
Irish MSS. leabap bpecna6, the British Book. Edited from the Book of Balli-
niote, collated with copies in the Book of Lecan and in the Library of Trinity
College, Dublin, with a Translation and Notes, by James Henthorn Todd, D. D.,
M. R. I. A., Fellow of Trinity College, &c. ; and Additional Notes and an Intro-
duction, by the lion. Algernon Herbert. Price 15*.

1848.
The Latin Annalists of Ireland ; edited with Litroductoxy Remarks and
Notes by the Very Rev. Richard Butler, M. R. I. A., Dean of ClonmacnoiB, —
\ iz. :

r. The Annals of Ireland, by John Clyn, of Kilkenny ; from a MS. in the
Library of Trinity College, Dublin, collated with another in the Bodleian
Library, Oxford.
2. The Annals of Ireland, by Thady Dowling, Chancellor of Leighlin. From
a MS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. Price 8*.

1849-50.
Macari^ £xcidiu3i, the Destruction of Cyprus; being a secret History of the
( 'i\il War in Ireland, under James II., by Colonel Charles O^Kelly. Edited in the
Latin from a MS. presented by the late Professor M*Cullagh to the Library of the
Koyal Irish Academy ; with a Translation ttom. a MS. of the seventeenth century;
and Notes by John C. O'Callaohan, Esq. Price i/.

1851.
Acts of Akchbishop Colton in his Visitation of the Diocese of Deny, A. D.
1397. Editeil from the original Roll, with Introduction and Notes, by William
Kkevks, D. D., :»L R. I. A. Price io«.

[Presented to the Society by the Rev. Dr. Reeves.]

1852.
Sir William Petty 's Narrative of his Proceedings a the Survey of
I iiEijiND ; from a MS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. Edited, with
Notes, by Sir Thomas A. Larcom, R. E. Price 15*.

( 4 )

'853.

Cambreksis EviSRsrs ; or, Refutation o( the Authority of Ginldiu CambrensU

on the History of Ireland, by Dr. John Lynch (1662), with some Account of the

Aflfairs of that Kingdom during his own and former times. Edited, with Transla*

tion iind copious Notes, by the Kcv. BLvTrnsw Keli.y. Three volumes. Price

I/. 10*.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE CELTIC SOCIETY.
Folded MDCCCXLV.

1847.
l-eabap na 5-Ceapc, or, The Book of Itights; a Treatise on the Rights and
I'rivilcges of the Ancient Kings of Ireland, now for the first time edited, with
I'ranslation and Notes, by John 0'Dosova.x, LL. D., M. R. I. A. frice io«.

1848-50-51-52.
Camurensis Kversus, &c. ud alwvi!. Three volmnes.

[Given to Membcrrt of the Celtic Society for 1848, 1850-52 ; and to Members
or Associate's of the Unito*l S«)cicty for 1853.]

1S49.
MiscKLLANY i»K THE L'km u' SociETv, coutainiug :

A Treatise from the IKmiIc of LoaL>an on 0*h-Eidir8eceoirs (O'Drisfol's)
<!ouiitn-, in the Coinuy of Cork.

A Historical Poem on the i3attlo of Dun (Downpatrick), A.D. 1x60.

Sir liiclianl iJinKbaurs Act ount of hia l*roceedings in Connacht, in tlie reign
r.f KlizalK^th.

A Namitinn .-f Sir Hriiry l)i.K:wra'«i St-ivicesin Ulster, ^-ritien A.U- 1614 : toge-
ther with oihci oripiial Docmm-nts and Letters illustniti\'e of Irish iiitfCurr.
Kditcd l.> .loiiN <>'noM>VAN. Es-i-, LL. I>., M.U.I. A. I'rice lot.

»S53.
(Nicl) lllni;i)lM' (.(Mifi : riip Uattlo of MughLcna: an ancient hiaturic lute,
• 'litod by Eu<JK>'i. ('inin . I'.mj.. M. 1». I. A., from original MSS. I'rice ic».

Compli.'ti; Srt <if lii:«h AnrluroloMrlcal Society's Piil)lications, 15 volumes, prirt li^.
("••llir S'nicty's Tublicatiiins, 6 volumes, price £3.

Ajuilicationri fm- tin- fori'^^oin;: Publioatioiis to l)c made to the Ilunorafy SecrfU-
li'-t iif thi- Iri.-^h An luii.lo^iral ami Ccltir S'niety, care of I'DWAKuCUBHOKy, E>g..
1 1). l>.iw-j-»ii--liv, t. I)ii!iliu.